Spider-Man: Tokyo 2040
by TLHCG
Summary: AU-FutureFic! Given superhuman abilities akin to those of a spider after a terrible accident, Ikegami Takuya follows a promise made to a friend by become the hero they once dreamed of being. In mid-21st century Tokyo, however, the government has strict regiments concerning empowered citizens. Can he call himself a hero if he doesn't fall in line?
1. S1E1 -- Same As It Never Was

Spider-Man:

Tokyo 2040

* * *

Episode 1

Same As It Never Was

by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy

* * *

Episode Guide: In the future of Tokyo, Japan has a new set of heroes. For Ikegami Takuya, however, saving the world comes after homework and helping out at his mother's clinic!

* * *

Wednesday; May 2

12:21 a.m.

The hour was late.

Mitsubuya Ito had known it was foolish to think he could make it to the Mag-Rail station on time. A station attendant had been locking the doors shut when he'd raced toward them. That, of course, meant that the trains were no longer running.

" _Yarro_ ," he swore impotently under his breath at the man, despite knowing full well that the gentleman could do nothing to help him.

Mitsubuya stood in the courtyard of the train station for Shin-Mugenjo, considering his options. At this time of night, the buses were also shut down. It would be hard to find a cab running, and even then, he doubted that his regular account had the funds needed to travel all the way to his house in the suburbs.

Frustrated, Mitsubuya began to curse his situation. It had been his boss who insisted he remain late in the office to finish the paperwork for the company's latest project. That had taken far longer than expected. Long after everyone else had cleared out, Mitsubuya had decided to grab a quick nap before picking up where he'd left off. When he'd opened his eyes again, over three hours had passed.

"You could have just gone home," Mitsubuya chided himself out loud, feeling foolish, "like everyone else, and come back early the next morning."

Finishing the assignment had taken another two hours. To compound his problems, the doors to the downstairs exit had been locked, forcing Mitsubuya to hunt down a security guard and open them for him. The short, squat man in his forties had entertained the idea that the clocks were simply running fast while he jogged breathlessly down the sidewalk, hoping against hope to not have missed the last train.

Now, he stood in the dim light before the train station, which was growing steadily dimmer as the lights began to extinguish themselves automatically. Mitsubuya cringed at the thought of his wife, who would undoubtedly be in a rage right now. He had neglected to call her on top of everything else. She would be even more furious if he withdrew money from their joint account to pay for a cab. The thought of her yelling gave Mitsubuya a headache, yet he had to get home somehow.

"Natsu gives me about as much credit as Boss-san does," Mitsubuya grumbled, looking alone and defeated in the shadowy courtyard. "She'll cut me a break the day Boss-san gives me the promotion he's been promising."

There was an ATM several blocks over. Mitsubuya reasoned that he could reach there in a few minutes if he hurried. There was bound to be a cab further down, hoping to pick up some straggler like him that had missed the trains. It would mean walking for several city blocks, but at this point, Mitsubuya was willing if it meant he didn't have to sleep on the streets.

"Quit whining," he ordered himself, forcing his tired feet to move. "You can do this. It's been done before, and you'll do it this time. There's little to be worried about at this hour."

Shin-Mugenjo was still considered a new district. It had been constructed following the devastation brought about by Hurricane K. The Class-7 tropical disturbance had brought Tokyo to its knees, along with most of Japan. In the aftermath, the city of Tokyo had been completely remodeled and revamped. Twelve years had followed, and the streets looked as pristine and glorious as ever.

That is, so long as no one ventured out into them after midnight.

The press was still refusing to report on any of the gang activity and rises in crime. People nevertheless talked about it. Mitsubuya's wife brought it up every time she saw a news report. Mitsubuya was no stranger to what went on, but he tried to ignore it. It wasn't his concern; at least, so long as he wasn't foolish enough to stay out this late, which he had.

Mitsubuya reached the ATM and, using his shaking hands, transferred funds out of the joint account into his regular one. His heart began to soar as the machine verified the transaction for him before spitting his cash card back out. There was just enough money now for him to take a cab home, once he'd found one, of course.

Mitsubuya snatched the card back and slid it inside his pocket. As he did, the hairs on the back of his neck raised up in warning. Mitsubuya's heart rate hadn't gone down once the whole time he'd been standing under the ATM light. Sweat now rolled over his flesh. Before Mitsubuya had even turned around, he knew trouble was waiting for him.

There were ten of them.

Each one was rough and rugged, wearing clothing that clashed horribly and looked torn in strategic places. Half of the gang's members were male, and all much younger and more fit than Mitsubuya had ever been in his entire life.

"Yo!" he called out weakly, hoping to try the diplomatic approach.

In response, the leader raised his fist, displaying a metal device covering his fist. Mitsubuya swallowed in fear as the device sparked dangerously.

"Wallet, if you would please?" the gang leader asked politely, giving his Spark Knuckler–a weapon that was a mixture of brass knuckles and a taser–one more squeeze for good measure.

"Here!" Mitsubuya fished into his pocket again to yank his wallet back out. "Take it, please! It's yours if you don't–"

Mitsubuya cut himself off as he fumbled, dropping both the wallet and the cash card that he'd just used. The card clattered noisily on the sidewalk against the concrete, making far more of a racket than it should have.

"Please!" Mitsubuya begged, kneeling down on the stone with one hand held up in a desperate attempt to keep the gang members at bay. " _Onegai shimasu_! I–"

The gang leader stepped forward calmly, almost as if he were offering to help Mitsubuya up. The sight of him caused the poor, middle-aged man to freeze up completely. A lump formed in his throat, preventing him from speaking further.

Without a word, the gang leader picked the card up off the ground, holding it up so that his compatriots could see it clearly.

"Maybe there's enough money on this for you to buy yourself a new set of balls," he suggested, loud enough for everyone present to hear. "The old ones don't seem to be doing you much good anymore, _Jii-san_."

Everyone in the leader's gang roared with laughter.

"Maybe his wife took the old ones and keeps them in a drawer," one of the young punk girls offered, sneering.

"Or high up on a shelf," said another, laughing next to her friend, "where he can't reach!"

Tears rolled down Mitsubuya's face. The laughter stung, but more than anything else, he was ashamed at the truth behind their words. These kids–they didn't know him. None of them knew how hard he worked. They didn't understand or care how Mitsubuya's boss treated him. They didn't know what it was like having a wife at home who treated him with the barest of respect most of the time.

" _Kuso_!" he cried out, surprised by the rage that was boiling up from inside him. "Give me back my wallet!"

Mitsubuya stood up on shaky legs and prepared to charge the gang leader. This would have most likely resulted in his death; or at the very least, him waking up inside a hospital after receiving a shock from the gang leaders Spark Knuckler.

However, something whipped through the air past him, striking the concrete a few steps ahead. Mitsubuya windmilled his arms and came to a clumsy stop, unsure of what had almost hit him. The gang leader had noticed it as well, and was looking down at the same spot.

It was a shuriken of some kind. From Mitsubuya's standpoint, it looked as though someone had fixed a small type of device onto the metal in the center.

Mitsubuya and the gang leader looked raised up at each other at the same time. When the gang leader cocked an questioning eyebrow his way, Mitsubuya shrugged, having no idea what the little thing was for. Staring down again, Mitsubuya observed the device more closely and realized that shuriken bore a strange resemblance to a red spider.

Somehow, in hindsight, Mitsubuya felt he shouldn't have been quite as shocked when the little device exploded a second later. The blast wasn't that much worse than a child's firecracker toy, yet the sound was four times as loud. Mitsubuya and the gang members both fell back out of the way, scattering slightly in the process–especially in the latter's case.

When Mitsubuya could hear more or less again, someone was clearing their throat. The strangest part was that the sound came from above.

"Pardon me," came the fast, tenor voice. "Sorry to interrupt, but does any of you know how I can get to Katsuhara from here?"

Mitsubuya looked up, wondering what kind of a fool would be asking for directions in a situation like this, and from a bunch of gang members no less. The answer came when he spotted the svelte, athletic figure dressed in a black-and-red costume hanging upside-down from what looked like a thin wire.

"I seem to have gotten myself all turned around upside down," the costumed figure went on, laughing at his own joke. "But then, I've always been bad at directions."

The figure released his grip on the wire, falling with impossible grace to the sidewalk in a crouch. In three easy movements, he had kicked the gang leader in the stomach, then kicked Mitsubuya's card up into the air before knocking the leader's feet out from under him using a sweep kick.

Mitsubuya watched–his face a stunned mask–as the card fell back down. The masked figure, meanwhile, spun around as he raised back up and slapped the card away. Mitsubuya saw his card fly toward him and automatically raised both arms to shield his face.

"Here, hold on to this," the masked figure said, and a split second later, Mitsubuya felt something strike him in the chest. "And don't touch the webbing!"

Staggering backward, Mitsubuya looked down in shock at his chest. The cash card for his account was stuck to his chest along with some strange white substance. The stuff looked sticky, almost like spider webbing. Sparing a glance up, Mitsubuya saw the costumed figure attacking the gang members, knocking each one out like it was some kind of sport for him.

And the whole time, he was talking.

"You probably should have stayed home tonight," the figure offered to one thug as he landed punches in rapid succession all of said thug's chest with lightning speed. "Worked on your kenpo more. I hear it's coming back into style with criminal lowlifes like yourself."

It sounded as though the masked figure was playing a game. The voice was utterly calm, almost bored. Mitsubuya stared down at his chest again and touched the sticky white goo gingerly. Some of it came away on his fingers. It was still holding his card in place. Only now, the substance stretched away, pulling Mitsubuya's second-best work shirt along for the ride.

"Are you seeing anybody right now?" the masked figure was asking one of the young girl gang members now, apparently not bothered by the fact that she was brandishing a knife at his face. "I mean, I know this is forward of me, but could I text you sometime?"

The entire situation was too surreal for Mitsubuya to comprehend. Worse yet, he couldn't get the stuff off his fingers no matter how hard he tried. Using his other hand, Mitsubuya gripped his card and yanked as hard as he could. The webbing pulled and stretched, but refused to break. The more Mitsubuya wrestled with it, the worse it got.

"The Virgin Maiden stance?"

Mitsubuya looked up again at this comical outburst from the costumed figure, who was laughing at the single gang member left.

"Don't worry," the figure said as the lone gang member attacked him using what looked like a very clumsy fighting style. "I won't tell anyone that you're really a virgin. Or that you're not a girl either."

The gang leader that was left went down with a single punch to the face.

"Not that I'm judging or anything," said the laughing costumed man, dusting his hands off and walking away calmly toward Mitsubuya. "Just saying, is all."

Seeing the figure approach, Mitsubuya did the only sensible thing that came to mind–he panicked. Unfortunately, his hands were still stuck, and Mitsubuya's brain was only capable of handling one crisis at a time, usually.

"Ah, I told you that touching the webbing was a bad idea," the figure chided, stopping several feet away from where Mitsubuya waffled. "Don't worry, though. It dissolves in about an hour."

"Are you," Mitsubuya said between gasping breaths, "going to hurt me?"

The figure pretended to ponder the idea for a moment, stroking his chin through the mask he wore.

"Nope," he decided. "You're free to go. And as an added bonus, I'll even tell you where there's a cab you can take so you'll be off the streets."

Mitsubuya felt a little bit of his panic drain away slowly. With the masked man standing up close, Mitsubuya was able to get a better image of him. The black and red costume concealed the whole body, making it hard to determine how old the man was. He was definitely male, though–the costume wasn't doing a very good job of hiding _**that**_ , and Mitsubuya felt relief that his wife wasn't present.

The red emblem of a spider covered most of the chest area. A second red spider covered part of the head, with the legs shaping a kind of tribal design on the sides around a face guard that fit onto the mask itself. Even the bracers the figure wore on his wrists and ankles looked like spiders. The legs of the chest emblem formed a belt as well, which had been outfitted with several pockets.

Everything that wasn't red looked black. Squinting in the darkness, though, Mitsubuya thought he could make out a red web design racing through the solid black pattern. There was also a cape of some sort. It was made out of a material that reminded Mitsubuya of the same fluid stuck to his fingers and chest. This one looked slightly tattered, though, and hung loosely down the figure's back.

Staring down, Mitsubuya realized that the costumed figure was wearing _tabi_ boots.

"Where?" Mitsubuya blurted out.

"That way," the figure indicated, pointing behind him with his left hand toward a corner. "Around there and down the street. Stick to the well-lit side of the road until you come to the cab. He just parked there."

Mitsubuya started to run on instinct, then paused. After a moment further of waffling, he stared at the figure again through the clear black plates that concealed his eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, more boldly than he felt.

"Well, lately," the figure began calmly, as if he hadn't just fought off a ten-strong gang all by himself, "people have been referring to me as 'that bastard who keeps attacking us'. That, and 'AHHH! DON"T HURT ME!'"

Mitsubuya didn't blink.

"I'm really trying to work on that last one," the figure went on. "But, if you'd like, feel free to call me your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

And then, as if someone heard Mitsubuya thinking that the night couldn't possibly get any weirder and was determined to prove him wrong, the figure leaped ten feet into the air. A thin wire–made of the same stuff that was stuck to his shirt, Mitsubuya somehow realized–flew out of the Spider-Man's wrist. Mitsubuya watched as the Spider-Man swung off into the night.

"Tell your friends about me!" he shouted back cheerfully.

It was a moment more before Mitsubuya realized he'd been staring. Moreover, he'd been watching the Spider-Man figure swing out of sight high in the air between two towering buildings. All of this, he'd done while standing in a spot where ten thugs had almost mugged him.

Realizing this, Mitsubuya picked the smart decision.

He took off running in the direction of the cab that the Spider-Man had told him about. It was hard not thinking about the fact that he was taking advice from a madman in a costume. Somehow, though, Mitsubuya managed, and reached the cab in mere moments.

"Here!" Mitsubuya tossed his cash card into the front of the cab as he dove inside the open door. "Take me home, now! Before anything else can happen."

The cab driver, who'd been chowing down on a bowl of instant ramen, looked into the back seat at the frantic and sweaty Mitsubuya through his rear view mirror.

"You gonna be sick?" the driver asked in a thick Kansai accent as he set the plastic bowl down carefully. "Maybe I should take ya to the hospital instead?"

"No, just home," Mitsubuya said very fast, rattling off his address. "Before anything else can happen, please!"

Nodding, the driver activated the electric cab car using his thumb print, then shifted gears. The cab rolled easily out into the street, which was empty at this point.

"You look pale," the driver noted, still watching as Mitsubuya panted in the backseat. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing," said Mitsubuya in reply, giving a nervous giggle. "Just... a big spider man in a costume saved me from ten thugs, and stuck my card to my chest with sticky goo that he shot out of his body."

The cab driver just nodded, looking nonplussed as he turned a corner.

"Yeah, that happens sometime."

Mitsubuya blinked, waiting a moment to make sure he'd heard the driver right.

" _Gomen ne_ ," he began slowly, worried slightly at what he might find out. "What did you just say?"

The cab driver burst out laughing, startling the poor man in his car.

"Pal," the driver said between fits of laughter. "What're you on?"

* * *

Wednesday; May 2

7:31 a.m.

Ikegami Takuya gave a pitiful moan of protest as his alarm rang. Reaching over, he poked the tip of a finger against the glowing screen of his phone, silencing it.

"Five and a half hours of sleep," he muttered, speaking through the sensation of cotton in his mouth. "Better than last night."

Takuya raised up in his bed and stretched, flexing the kinks out of his body before brushing the grit out of his eyes. Morning sunlight streamed through the plain curtains of his bedroom's lone window. Sighing, the fifteen-year old boy flipped forward, somersaulting out of bed to land on his feet.

"Ta-da!" he declared to the small quarters, devoid of any human life other than himself. "Good morning, world."

Takuya's room was located on the third floor of his mother's clinic; a simple space in the shape of a rectangle with a closet, desk area, and drawers built into the far wall. The drawers were coated with a thin layer of dust, like they hadn't been opened in a while. The same could be said for the closet, and the mirror adorning one of the doors.

Only the desk area was kept reasonably tidy. It housed a computer set-up, complete with virtual visor, touch-sensitive screen board, and holovision screen projection. The holovision screen was cycling through an image program of a baby panda chewing on bamboo shoots; something the system had selected at random.

The holographic video stopped playing when Takuya approached, sensing his movement, and switched over to the desktop theme. Takuya ignored it, however, except to shut the holovision screen off entirely. Reaching for the far back area near where the thin, hyper-definition speakers stood, Takuya withdrew his SMARTwatch and slapped the device over his wrist. The miniature holovision screen opened automatically, offering him the usual apps. Takuya skipped over them in favor of a small icon located in the bottom left, almost out of sight.

A new screen opened, and after scrolling through the outfits he'd saved, Takuya selected his school uniform. The teen was about to push the activation icon, then remembered that he was still wearing his boxers from the day before.

"Guess I could go a day without hearing _ka-san_ complain," he mused, slipping the drawers down so that he was nude in front of the closet door mirror. "But, then again, why spoil the fun?"

Saying this, Takuya eyed the boxers he'd left on the floor, then kicked them aside. His mother would find them later, and complain about how he'd left them there. Takuya chuckled at the thought while staring at his reflection.

A boy of fifteen years stared back, sporting a fair complexion, attractive enough features, and contrasting dark hair looked back. Eyes that were almost gold in color stood out prominently. The body was of a swimmer's build, yet improbably taught–like a steel coil–for a teenager. Takuya gave himself a wink before hitting the icon on his watch.

There was no bright flash or fanfare. One second, he was in the nude behind the closed door of his bedroom. The next, a black substance poured out from under the bed to puddle around his feet. Takuya stood still, letting the ooze slide quickly up his body. The transformation took a few seconds to complete. When Takuya stared at his reflection again, he was clothed in his school uniform.

"Sure beats the hell outta changing clothes every day," he noted, smiling at himself again.

The techno-mesh liquid fiber had done its job perfectly once more, replicating his spring uniform down to the last detail. Takuya did a quick turn to confirm no glitches had cropped up–he'd had a particularly embarrassing breakfast a month ago when the suit somehow forgot about the back of his pants. Satisfied, the teen moved for the door, leaving it open as he walked down the short hallway to the living room.

" _Ohaiyo_ , to-san," he greeted, spotting his father sitting in the usual spot at the family _kotatsu_.

Takuya's father didn't respond. The man's eyes were fixed on the central holovision screen projected out of the _kotatsu's_ surface. Chopsticks moved automatically in the older man's hands up to his mouth, feeding breakfast noodles that missed their mark periodically. Sighing, Takuya took his own place on the futon, making sure to leave the space at the far end opposite his father empty.

"Rumors of a recent rise in gang activity in Shin-Mugenjo have sparked controversy among the town's citizens," the female newscaster was saying, "despite claims from local law enforcement insisting the police have the situation under control."

"Where's mom?" Takuya asked, reaching for the bowl of ramen that had already been laid out on the table for him.

"Downstairs," his father replied, speaking for the first time. "In her office. Getting ready to open up for the day. Will you be home to help her this afternoon?"

"I should," said Takuya, snapping his chopsticks in half. "If I don't have club meetings or something. _Ittadakimasu_!"

'Club meeting' was Takuya's go-to excuse for his 'extra-curricular' work. So far, neither of his parents had figured out what that meant. Realizing that his father had gone silent again, Takuya picked his bowl up and quickly slurped down the noodles. The newscaster had already moved from the story about rising gang violence to a recent scandal involving a pop star.

" _G_ _ochisosama deshita_ ," Takuya declared once he was finished, setting the bowl back down. "I'll say goodbye to _ka-san_ on my way out."

Takuya's father didn't appear to hear him. Taking his bowl, the teenager left it in the kitchen sink, then raced back to his room to grab his briefcase. Next, he stopped off at the restroom to brush his teeth and wash his face off. With the morning ritual complete, Takuya gave his absent-minded father a wave–which the man barely noticed–before heading downstairs.

The clinic where his family lived was divided up into three levels. The top level held the apartment where the family lived. The second level contained his mother's office, several patient rooms, a set of bathrooms, and a storage area. Takuya rounded the corner once he was off the stairs and headed straight for the office of Dr. Ikegami Naoko.

" _Ka-san_!" he called out cheerfully. "I'm going to school now. Is there...?"

Takuya found himself standing in front of the open door to an empty office. A pot of hot coffee brewed in a machine not far away from a desk chair that had been pushed back near the wall behind it.

"Looks like I missed her," he mused, turning around. "I wonder where she went?"

The answer came a second later as a distinct scream rang out from one of the patient rooms.

"That answers that question," he said to himself, taking off toward the noise.

Naoko was exiting the room where the sound had come from as Takuya approached. The second level did not have many side corridors, so it had been easy to find.

"There you are," Naoko said in lieu of a greeting. "If you don't hurry, you'll be late."

"I'm always on time," Takuya replied defensively. "Except when I'm not, which is usual for me."

Naoko gave her son a very dry glare.

"Come home as soon as you can after school," she instructed, while thumbing through some notes on her tablet. "I need your help taking inventory in the supply room. Seems like we're always missing a few things."

"I will after club meetings," Takuya promised, though he discreetly moved one hand behind his back to cross a set of fingers. "They sometimes run a little long."

"I've noticed," Naoko went on, not looking up from her tablet. "Anyway, you'd better get a move on. I'll see you later this evening."

Takuya gave his mother a nod and was on his way past her when she stopped him suddenly. To Takuya's surprise, she pecked him lightly on one cheek. Takuya felt his face flush from embarrassment, yet he didn't pull away immediately.

"Be careful," she told him, her voice growing softer, less sharp. "Message me if you are going to be late. I'll worry otherwise."

"I know," said Takuya, giving his mother's forearm a very gentle squeeze of affection. "I will."

Satisfied, his mother let him leave. Takuya made for the end of the hall which split into two different directions. Faking going right, he peeked around a corner, watching his mother as she headed back toward her office. With the coast now clear, Takuya raced the other way, stopping in front of an emergency exit. A security pad stood on the wall beside the door a few feet above the handle.

Quickly, Takuya entered the code from memory to disable the alarm, then slipped out through the door onto the stair landing outside. The door slid shut, and the light beside it flashed red, signifying that the alarm had been reset. Around him on three sides were the walls of buildings, one being the clinic. A gap where the fourth wall would have been formed the mouth of an alley.

Takuya checked to make sure no one was watching, then reached for his SMARTwatch. Scrolling through the selection of outfits again, he triggered a different one: one definitely not suitable for school.

"Once again," he narrated to himself as the school uniform reshaped itself into his black-and-red costume, "Tokyo's silent guardian takes to the skyscrapers, ever watchful for the criminal element that infests his home."

Raising one arm high overhead, the now-cloaked Spider-Man fired a line of tensile steel strong webbing from the underside of his forearm. The tip struck home, anchoring high up on the opposite building's ledge.

"Too bad the spectacular Spider-Man only has a few minutes to spare for webslinging and crime-fighting before the bell rings."

Leaping off the stair landing, Spider-Man sling-shot himself up over the roof of the Ikegami Health Clinic using his weight and gravity against the webbing's flexibility. Tumbling through the air, the webslinger caught himself using another line.

"Some criminals will just have to reschedule," he muttered, effortlessly swinging through the row of buildings.

The sound of an alarm blared out over the general roar of daily street traffic. The ringing caught Spider-Man's attention, and he swung himself back on the web line.

"Or not," Spider-Man corrected, spotting the sound of the noise–a bank. Specifically, it was the Japan Commerce Bank just a few blocks from his home. "Robbing a bank in the middle of morning rush hour? Oi, some crooks just can't wait!"

Defying death and gravity, Spider-Man swung back the way he'd come toward the Commerce bank. As he swooped high overhead, two crooks emerged. Each male was masked and armed, one carrying a hostage with them. The woman looked frantic, but only until Spider-Man was able to web her out of the criminal's clutches.

Then, she was terrified.

"I am really, terribly sorry about that," Spider-Man apologized profusely to the panicked young bank teller–going by her uniform. "It just seemed like you'd prefer my company over his. But, if you'd like for me to put you back..."

Gunshots came from below, sending slugs up into the air, which cracked the glass of the building's upper front windows. People inside scattered in fear despite the glass not shattering. Spider-Man–who'd been swinging back and forth in a circle, let go of the web line he'd been gripping. The bank teller screamed a shrill cry as they both dropped toward the ground.

"Relax," Spider-Man assured her above the sound of her cries. "I have the situation well in hand."

Spider-Man had already reached out with one arm, keeping the bank teller tight in his grip with the other. Extending his hand and both feet, he felt the claws extract from the tips of his fingers and toes. The hooked claws left their secret hiding spot inside of his body and latched onto the glass, stopping them in mid-fall.

"See?" Spider-Man insisted, crawling up the front of the bank as fast as he could with one arm distracted. "Simple enough. Now, if you'll just be so kind as to remain on the roof while I take care of your would-be suitors..."

Gunfire rang out once more. The teller gave one last cry, but then they were safely on the roof behind the ledge where the bullets couldn't reach.

"Trust me, you'll like it much better up here," Spider-Man assured her, before back-flipping off the side. "The view is to die for!"

Flipping forward in a downward spiral, Spider-Man ended his descent in a mid-air split kick, sending both gun-toting crooks flying sideways before bringing his legs together for the dismount. Raising up, Spider-Man quickly checked to make sure both masked criminals were still down. Some of them had this annoying habit of getting back up after he'd already attacked them.

"Seriously, guys?" he chided, taking a couple of steps backward toward the front door of the bank. "Can't you just wait in line like everybody else to make a withdrawal?"

As if they had rehearsed this, the gunmen stood in unison. Each clutched an injured part of their body; one was holding his side while the other tended to a broken arm. They were still able to point their guns, though.

"Guess not," Spider-Man said, sighing as he shot webbing out from each forearm to snatch their guns away. "Oh well. There's always the ATM machine."

Now disarmed, the would-be bank robbers looked terrified. Spider-Man took advantage of their indecision and webbed both of them up, sticking their immobile bodies to the front of the bank.

"And who knows?" he reasoned, satisfied that his webbing would hold until the police arrived. "By the time you two are out of prison, they may have perfected a way to keep them from glitching up and forgetting people's PIN numbers."

Taking to the air again, Spider-Man was about to websling away when he remembered the bank teller.

"Oops!" he apologized, swooping down to pluck her from the rooftop so she could be deposited back down on the sidewalk. "My bad! Totally forgot that I'd left you up there. I hope this doesn't mean that we won't be..."

The instant their feet touched the sidewalk, the bank teller shoved Spider-Man away. Standing perfectly still, he watched as she backed away slowly in fear, her eyes never leaving him.

" _Hai_ ," he said, feeling defeated. "You just... go on about your day then."

Feeling a little dejected, Spider-Man took to the skyscrapers, swinging his way to school once again. Using a roundabout pattern, he was able to shake off most of his ill mood before he arrived at Shin Kyoboku Gakuen.

"Webslinging is definitely the best way to clear up the early morning blues," Spider-Man said with a happy sigh of contentment as he landed in an empty loading alley behind the school grounds. "As well as rejection from a pretty girl!"

Tapping the left side of his head, Spider-Man activated the hidden bluetooth that was built into his mask. On the screen built into his mask's eye lenses, several icons sprang up. Spider-Man scrolled through until he came to his school uniform.

"And best of all," he said cheerfully while the costume changed back into Ikegami Takuya's school uniform, "I'm still made it in plenty of time for registration."

Takuya took a step forward out of the alley, then remembered that he was wearing the wrong shoes. Opening the display on his SMARTwatch, he scrolled through the specialty selection, which was where all the holographic scans of shoes were stored. A moment later, his shoes had transformed into the school's regulation _uwagutsu_.

"Too bad the school's shoe locker is always so crowded this time of day," Takuya grumbled to himself, working his way around the alley corner toward the front entrance. "Let's just hope nobody notices that I'm coming into school with these–"

Takuya stopped short. Directly in front of him were two members of Sakamoto Shuichi's gang–among the worst bullies at Takuya's school. The two were crowding a young girl roughly his age against a wall.

"–on."

"Come on, girlie," Kazo, the larger of the two, pressed while his cohort, Junji–the shorter of the two watched closely. "It's just one date, after all. Everybody knows you go for older men anyway."

"It's all those dates men pay for at the Game Centers," Junji jeered, leering openly at the girl's breasts.

The girl–Takuya didn't recognize her, though she wore the girls uniform for Shin Kyoboku–was maintaining her cool the whole time. Still, it was two against one, and Takuya cursed himself for having changed back from his Spider-Man disguise so quickly.

"Still," he reasoned out loud to himself, stepping forward. "I can handle two on one, even as Ikegami."

Unfortunately, Kazo and Junji both heard Takuya muttering his thoughts out loud and turned to glare menacingly in his direction. Takuya cursed once again, this time at having lost the element of surprise.

Then–

"I think you should let the lady go," he advised, keeping their attention. "Girls tend to dislike guys that are too pushy. Maybe if you–"

Takuya had a feeling his advice would've fallen on deaf ears, but that proved redundant anyway. Once Kazo and Junji's attention was sufficiently diverted, the girl seized Kazo by his ape-ish arm. Takuya and Junji each watched in shock and awe while the nameless girl kneed Kazo directly in the balls, then kicked his knees out from under him and flipped him onto his back.

"Eh, never mind then," Takuya said quietly.

Junji, meanwhile, turned around at once and took off in the opposite direction. Takuya chuckled, watching him retreat, then looked at the mysterious fighter girl who'd just waylaid a man twice her size and weight. The girl was busying herself by straightening the front of her uniform, and casually tossed the mane of light brown hair she sported over one shoulder before walking away toward school.

"Matte!" Takuya called out, giving chase.

The girl didn't slow her stride, though it was easy enough for Takuya to catch up to her. As he approached, she glanced back in his direction, wearing a look of disdain.

"What do you want?" she asked him coolly when he reached her side.

"That was really impressive," Takuya complimented, giving her his best smile. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

The girl didn't answer immediately. She seemed to be taking an assessment of him, and wasn't very impressed by what she saw.

"Nowhere in particular," she replied finally as they were rounding the corner near the school's main gate.

"Ah, _sou desu_ ," Takuya went on, determined not to be blown off for the second time that morning. After all, this girl wasn't screaming at him yet. "You go to the same school that I do, but I've never seen you around before. I'm a first-year, though, so I haven't gotten to know everyone yet."

The girl remained silent.

"What's your name?" Takuya tried, hopefully. "Mine's Ikegami Takuya. _Hajimemashite desu yo_."

"Mamiya," she answered crisply as the two of them passed through the gate together. "Mamiya Saki."

Before Takuya could speak again, the girl named Mamiya Saki veered sharply to the right and walked away. Takuya watched her go, surprised by this, but straightened his shoulders confidently when she paused to look back over her shoulder at him.

"By the way," she added, looking him square in the eye. "You're wearing the wrong shoes. Were you aware of that?"

Takuya looked down at his feet, specifically at the dirt and grime that had gotten all over his _uwagutsu_.

" _Hai_!" he answered fast, not sure of what else there was he could say. "I am, in fact."

Saki stared hard at him for a moment more.

" _Che_ , weirdo," she declared, before walking away again.

Takuya slumped his shoulders and sighed. After a moment, he raised up and started walking toward the main entrance to the school building. The shoe locker area was right inside, and true to form, it was full of students standing around talking. Takuya noticed a spot near the right wall that was unoccupied, however, as he entered.

Moving over to it, he stood casually while watching his classmates chatter unassumingly. Once certain no one would be paying him any attention, Takuya turned to face the wall, then opened the holovision display on his SMARTwatch, bringing up the icon command to initial a quick cleaning mode for his shoes. Takuya winced slightly as he felt the shoes dissolve to their default liquid state, then reform around his feet.

"There has got to be an easier way to do this every morning," he grumbled, closing the face of his SMARTwatch.

The sound of the morning chimes tuned overhead, causing the students around him to move nearly in unison together toward registration. A handful scrambled, caught unprepared by the noise.

"At least I'm on time for a change," he said, moving with the horde.

* * *

Noon came, which meant lunchtime for first, second, and third years. Rather than eat with the rest of his peers, however, Takuya decided to head for the roof. Buying a bento from the shop on the first floor, he slipped upstairs under the pretense of heading for the less crowded restrooms on the third level. From there, it was easy enough to sneak up the stairs to the rooftop.

"Ah," he said between bites from his bento, staring out across the cityscape. "The view from up here is incredible. Some spiders must really do crave high places."

There came the sound of a digital camera snapping a photo. Hanging his head, Takuya slowly turned around, then raised up to find Sakuma Hitomi standing with her camera pointing directly at him.

"Yo!" she said confidently, taking one hand off her precious camera to shoot him the V-sign. "Caught you talking to yourself again. Didn't I, Ikegami-san?"

Takuya wiped his mouth off with the back of one hand, having forgotten to bring napkins with him. Hitomi 'tsked' at him, reaching into her pocket for a set of napkins she'd brought.

"You'd think someone would have taught you how to look after yourself by now," she scolded, while Takuya graciously accepted the napkins from her.

"I forgot," he grumbled around a mouth full of food. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

"Looking for you," she said, holding her camera up again to bring Takuya into focus. "You weren't in the usual place during registration. Late again?"

"I was on time for a change," Takuya insisted, leaning back on the chain-link fence that surrounded the roof. "I got held up, is all."

Takuya grimaced and looked away as Hitomi took his photo. He always hated being on camera. For some reason, Hitomi loved snapping photographs of him, despite his protests.

" _Sou ne_?" she asked, intrigued, putting the camera down. "What's your excuse this time?"

"I caught two guys from Shuichi's gang hassling this girl," he explained, while Hitomi joined him over by the fence. "She said her name was Mamiya Saki. Ever heard of her?"

"Can't say that I have," Hitomi admitted, before stealing a bite of chicken from his bento.

"Oi!" he cried out in protest, but Hitomi ignored him and kept on speaking.

"She could be a late transfer student," Hitomi postulated around the bite of Takuya's chicken in her mouth. "We're only about a month into the first year. How old did this girl look?"

"Your manners are about as good as mine," Takuya scolded, holding the bento away so Hitomi wouldn't steal any more of his food. "Saying nothing of how nosy you are."

"An intrepid reporter must always keep an ear out for information," she quoted back at him. "My dad taught me that one. Anyway, I could probably find out more about this girl you supposedly rescued, assuming you're willing to share the rest of your lunch with me."

"Why can't you buy your own?" he asked, keeping the bento out of her reach still.

"It's payment for my services as an investigative journalist," she replied, reaching past Takuya for the box.

Takuya sighed and handed the bento over to her, reasoning that there was no point in resisting. Hitomi gave him a smug smirk before attacking the stir fried rice.

"Speaking of girls," she said, looking up at Takuya with rice bits stuck around her lip. "I got a text message from my dad just before school started."

"More aliens in the sewers?" Takuya teased, though he was secretly curious. "Or is he still stuck on the mutant thing?"

"Neither," said an unfazed Hitomi as she passed the bento back to him. "Apparently, some new costumed crimefighter saved a bank teller from two robbers that had taken her hostage this morning."

Takuya felt his whole body go tense at this. Hitomi's father ran a web journal blog whose primary focus was superhero activity and mutant rights. Sakuma-san was very outspoken about mutant rights and against furthering Japan's policy on mutant registration beyond mutants giving their name and a list of their powers.

Ever since Hurricane K twelve years ago, superheroes and individuals born with mutant abilities had become a phenomenon in Japan. So-called experts speculated on whether or not the hurricane itself had been some sort of paranormal occurrence that empowered people with rare gifts. Others guessed that it had merely stirred up the ant's nest, so to speak, and brought what was already around into the spotlight.

Two years after the event, while Japan was just starting to complete its recovery from the disaster, Parliament passed an ordinance making mutant registration mandatory. As the new decade went on, additions were placed on the law as well. Mutants were now required to turn themselves over to the government before their eighteenth birthday for examination to determine whether or not their powers posed a threat to the general public.

It didn't stop there either. A politician had lobbied to put an end to what he deemed was vigilantism running wild across the country. The plan failed when several heroes saved his life during an assassination attempt. Japan's government then forced a compromise: all heroes would register under the same banner as the mutant registration program, and from that point on work as government agents.

"Did he get pictures?" Takuya asked, snapping out of his recollection. "Your dad, I mean?"

" _Iie_ ," said Hitomi, noticing the anxiety in Takuya's voice. "Are you looking for photos to add to your scrap page?"

"I don't do that anymore," Takuya said icily, looking away. "Besides, that was somebody else's hobby to begin with. I was just... curious."

Hitomi made a sound that suggested she didn't believe him.

"There were bystanders across the street snapping photos with their phones and SMARTwatches," she informed. "None of the pictures turned out to be any good, though. He was moving too fast. Like a circus performer on caffeine or something."

Hitomi laughed, like she found this funny.

"Anyway, dad didn't get there until after the robbery was stopped," she went on saying. "From the sound of things, though, this is somebody new. Dad's real excited."

"He would be," Takuya grumbled.

Since becoming Spider-Man around a year ago, Takuya had done his best to keep a low profile. He suspected there were rumors about him, though. Plenty of people could have seen him webslinging in broad daylight after all. Takuya had convinced himself that the general public would assume he was someone legit, working for the government. The idea of registration made him uncomfortable.

Plus, he'd made a promise to someone, and intended to stand by it. Besides that, webslinging during the day meant he could spend the money for rail passes on other things.

"Hey," Hitomi said, giving Takuya's arm a slap. "What's going on down there?"

Takuya winced, and realized Hitomi had been staring down at a corner of the school courtyard. Facing the same direction she was, Takuya stared closer to get a better look. His spider senses gave him an advantage when it came to seeing things at a long distance.

"It's Shuichi and his gang," he told Hitomi, growing angry now. "They're dragging someone along with them."

"Another victim of one of his pranks," she surmised, reaching for her camera to take pictures. "Or he's doing a shakedown for money."

"Probably that," said Takuya, backing away from the fence.

Hitomi took a couple of shots, then pushed off from the fence to follow after Takuya.

"If you're going after them," she said warningly, following Takuya down the stairs, "I'm coming to. This is big news."

"This is schoolyard bullying," Takuya corrected, reaching the third floor. "Not really the sort of stuff your dad reports on."

"I can use it to get my own article on his site," Hitomi insisted, falling behind as Takuya picked up speed. "I'm coming and you can't stop me."

Takuya cursed and tried not to run too fast down the corridors. He knew the school building's layout pretty well, though. The structure had several back hallways that students only used at certain times of the day. This was lunch period, so much students would still be in their classrooms.

He'd intended to slip out of a window and change into Spider-Man. It wasn't really called for, but giving Shuichi a good scare would make the rest of Takuya's day. However, with Hitomi along, he would have to settle for resolving the issue as Ikegami.

"I caught a snapshot of them heading for the east gate," Hitomi revealed, catching up to Takuya as he burst out of a side door on the bottom level. "They're probably headed for that loading alley behind the school."

"Yeah, I know it," Takuya said between puffs of air. "Stay here."

If Hitomi heard him, she gave no indication. Takuya ignored the girl and made tracks for the gate. There was no sign of Shuichi's gang or whoever had been dragged along with them. Swearing, Takuya dashed down the road for the alley. Sure enough, Shuichi was standing a few feet inside the mouth of the alley surrounded by his gang. A lone student had been backed against a wall.

" _Chikusho_ ," he swore, taking in the scene. "Now how am I supposed to handle this?"

"I have a stun gun," said Hitomi, who had somehow slipped up behind him, and was watching the scene unfold as well. "We can use this, if it's needed."

Takuya turned back around to stare at Hitomi, flummoxed.

"You brought a stun gun to school?" he wondered.

"Dad says it's not safe for a girl on the streets anymore," she replied nonchalantly, giving him a shrug. "Too many gangs and whatever."

Takuya didn't stop staring.

"Your dad bought you a stun gun to bring to school?" he asked for clarification.

"Look!" Hitomi insisted, hissing.

The young man that Shuichi's gang had cornered was shaking visibly. One of Shuichi's bigger thugs had seized him by the tie and holding him up in a choking position while on his tip toes. Shuichi, meanwhile, was monologuing.

"–I mean, it's a sign of the times, really," Shuichi was saying, not even bothering to stare at the face of the poor kid he was hassling. "The strong must prey on the weak in order to survive. I don't mean to be rude, but we have our place in the grand scheme of things, and you have yours."

Hearing Shuichi say this set Takuya's blood on fire. He almost stepped into the mouth of the alley so as to become a target for the gang's ire. With his spider strength and skills, he could put all of them down in seconds. Hitomi would watch the whole thing, though, but that didn't even occur to him.

Hitomi managed to stop him anyway, however, by grabbing Takuya by the arm. Takuya froze, then whirled around.

" _Nande_?" he hissed.

"Over there," she said, nodding at the kid Shuichi's gang had cornered. "Look at what he's got."

Takuya looked, and spotted the kid pulling something out of his pocket. It looked to be the shape of a large coin, yet Takuya saw that it was silver and covered with lights. To his surprise, the kid gave the coin a squeeze, triggering some kind of activation response in it. The coin-esque object glowed brightly, getting the attention of several members of Shuichi's gang.

"Sakamoto-sama," one said nervously, as the coin somehow unfolded into a type of silver glove.

"What is it?" Shuichi snapped, not noticing the danger. "I'm in the middle of–"

Shuichi didn't get to finish his sentence. The kid thrust his palm out, sending a blast of something that was only barely visible, even to Takuya's enhanced vision. The bubble of force struck Shuichi square in the chest, causing him to fly backward. The other members of his gang stood there, dumbfounded, while the kid reached down toward a discarded bag with his other hand.

"You've been pushing us around since school started," the kid said in a dangerous tone, pulling something metallic out of his bag.

"I recognize him now," Hitomi whispered as she snapped photos. "That's Morino Kazuki. He's been a victim of Shuichi's gang several times."

"Looks like he blew his rail money on some new toys," Takuya whispered back, growing very worried as Kazuki slid the metal object over his wrist, which snapped open to reveal a black laser barrel.

Kazuki fired from the wrist-mounted blaster on his arm. The recoil from it caused him to lose his balance, which gave Shuichi's gang the chance to scatter. A black, smoldering spot on the far wall stood out.

"Somehow," Hitomi mused, no longer bothering to keep his voice down. "I doubt he bought those at Akihabara."

"Point taken," Takuya agreed, while Kazuki took aim again at Shuichi's paralyzed gang. "I'm going to get help."

Takuya ran back a ways, keeping Hitomi in sight. Her eyes and camera were both focused on the action unfolding in the alley. Nodding, Takuya flipped into the air, landing with his claws out against the wall. Keeping a watch out in case someone else came along, he nevertheless scaled up the building's side to the roof. From there, it was a quick change to his costume before diving down into the alley.

"That's enough, children!" Spider-Man cried out as he landed on all fours in a crouch. "Recess is over for today. Time to put all of your toys away and go back to your classrooms."

Kazuki took one look at Spider-Man and panicked. Unfortunately, the kid was still armed and willing to use the weapons he'd gotten from–who knew where? Spider-Man decided then and there that this was a question he could find the answer for later. This was especially due to the fact that Kazuki was freaking out, and had aimed the laser for his head.

"A-cha!" Spider-Man cried out, flipping backward a second before the ground beneath him exploded. "You really must not like homework!"

Some of Shuichi's gang decided that now would be the best time to run for their lives. Kazuki spotted them on the move and started shooting wildly. His shots were largely off their mark, though. Places on the wall behind them and along the ground exploded into spots of smoldering ruin. The gang members either tripped over their own shoes or fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

"Wonderful," Spider-Man grumbled. "Now I have to save the bullies from their victim. The world is full of irony today."

Kazuki hadn't forgotten about Spider-Man apparently, though his aim was far from improving. The silver glove he wore on the other hand fired a clear bubble of force out when Kazuki raised it. Spider-Man barely had to dodge, yet he felt the air around him ripple from the effect.

"Let's wrap things up for now," he quipped, spraying Kazuki down with webbing from his forearms. "You'll get another chance to play later, but I'm confiscating those toys from you until you learn how to play nicely."

Anything Kazuki might have said was silenced, as Spider-Man had webbed up his mouth as well. The poor kid was now stuck to the wall behind him inside of a cocoon.

"I don't see any reason to get the police involved," he said, using his claws to tear just enough of the cocoon so he could remove both weapons. "Defending yourself against bullies is fine, but weapons and school don't mix."

To emphasize his point, Spider-Man crushed both devices in his hands. Kazuki's eyes–one of the few places that was visible–widened in shock.

"And before I forget," Spider-Man added, dropping the pieces to the ground before turning toward the mouth of the alley, "there's another little matter to resolve."

Quicker than the naked eye could follow, Spider-Man fired a web line out at Hitomi, who had watched the whole thing go down. The web line snagged her camera, which was yanked from her grasp with a slight tug from the crimefighter.

"You can have the camera back," Spider-Man assured her, after withdrawing the memory card, "but I'm keeping this with me. Sorry, but I like to keep a low profile."

Tossing the camera back to her, Spider-Man leaped into the air and was gone before Hitomi could catch her precious camera.

" _Matte_!" she cried out angrily.

Spider-Man was already long gone.


	2. S1E2 -- New Places and Old Faces

Spider-Man:

Tokyo 2040

* * *

Episode 2

New Faces and Old Places

by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy

* * *

Episode Guide: A field trip has Spider-Man confronting a new foe that has a different face for every occasion. Meanwhile, Ikegami confronts old memories at his former middle school.

* * *

Thursday; May 3

10:41 p.m.

"Lady Octopus."

The fifty-something woman of Japanese and Chinese-American descent paused in the midst of bringing the ordinate tea cup in her hands up to her lips. Opening her eyes, she stared across from the top of the steaming mug. Her lawyer and personal assistant–Kimiko Devereaux–was kneeling in the same position as herself on her favorite futon, though with her head lowered.

"Shikake, the Tinkerer, is here to see you per your request," Kimiko explained, raising her head.

"Show him in," Lady Octopus replied in a reserved tone, before going back to her tea.

Kimiko did not speak any more, but stood up at once to usher the guest in. Lady Octopus, meanwhile, savored the taste of her rare opium tea for a moment. Around her, the metal tentacles surgically implanted into her spine rose up and flexed. All four waved for a moment, as though they were aroused by the chemicals in the tea.

"Lady Octopus," came a wheezing voice, drawing her attention back to the room and the speaking now standing within it. "Such a pleasure. A pleasure indeed. What can the Tinkerer do for you?"

"Sit," Lady Octopus ordered, gesturing to a spot in front of her with one of her metal tendrils.

Shikake the Tinkerer took his time getting down on the floor, making a show of being feeble and old. In reality, he was merely stalling. Lady Octopus watched as he fumbled about, stretching his legs out toward her unnecessarily, and letting her impatience with him progressively show on her face.

"Enough," she declared, lashing out with her tentacles.

Shikake found himself suspended in the air by his four limbs. Lady Octopus stared at him for a moment, using the mental muscles she'd developed over the years to squeeze the Tinkerer's arms and legs with her tendrils.

"You try my patience tonight, Tinkerer," she warned, before setting him down carefully on the floor in front of her. "I have already received word that some of your 'toys' have found their way on the streets."

Lady Octopus paused to allow the gravity of the situation settle.

"Without my permission. Why would that have happened?"

"I have to make a living," the elderly man grumbled, looking sour-faced. "You hadn't commissioned anything new from me in a while. I figured, what harm could it do?"

"You could have left a trail pointing the police directly to my operation," she snapped back, bringing her tentacles close to Shikake again in warning. "Now is not the time for me to have the law enforcement snooping in my business."

The Tinkerer's eyes bounced back and forth from one metal tendril to another. Nervous sweat dripped down the back of his neck and the sides of his face.

"Things are bad enough with those other two pests," she went on, paying no mind to the Tinkerer's distress. "And word is, someone new has been moving on the streets, interfering with the local gangs."

Shikake's eyes lit up as realization dawned on him.

"Ah, you are referring to the so-called Spider-Man, I see."

The Tinkerer sighed with some relief with the tentacles moved away slightly. Lady Octopus was watching him with interest now. He had evidently said something useful to her, which was very good.

"Hai, I have seen footage, though nothing particularly close or of good quality," he explained. "He moves so fast, and with such grace. It's very hard for traffic cameras to capture him in frame."

"You've been spying on the local police networks," Lady Octopus stated.

Shikake shrugged.

"It's a hobby," he replied. "The police seem to be debating for right now over whether or not to turn the case over to the Mutant Registration Department."

Lady Octopus made a face at the mention of the MRD.

"Che," she grunted disdainfully, before going back to the subject at hand. "I would like to find this Spider-Man. If the MRD get involved, he may be willing to seek sanctuary with me."

"You want to bring a crimefighter into your organization?" Shikake didn't bother trying to hide his shock. "Wouldn't he refuse automatically?"

Lady Octopus's tentacles flexed at the Tinkerer's outburst, but did not move toward him.

"The stereotype is old, is it not?" Lady Octopus smiled at something. "I will not ask him to 'join me so we can rule together'. Men such as him have such strict honor codes. It would surprise me if he said yes, but he might be willing to compromise in exchange for help in avoiding persecution."

"I can find him for you," Shikake said confidently. "If you would like, I will begin immediately."

"Good," Lady Octopus said. "Perhaps this project will help keep you from selling weapons to small children."

The Tinkerer went still.

"Children?" he asked. "What... do you mean, Lady Octopus?"

Lady Octopus narrowed her eyes in response.

"Do not play coy with me, Tinkerer," she warned, and the grips on her tentacles did flex this time. "The story is that a boy at one of the high schools in this district was found attacking students in an alley with equipment from your laboratory."

"But," the Tinkerer protested, shaking his head. "I... did not sell any of my weapons to anyone underage. They were sold to mercenaries!"

Lady Octopus's tentacles went very still.

"Then," she began slowly, after a moment's pause, "it would seem that we have a new problem on our hands."

* * *

Friday; May 4

10:41 a.m.

Ikegami Takuya stiffled a yawn and closed the holovision display on his desk. Around him, students in the classroom at Shin Kyobuku Gakuen were doing the same.

"There is approximately seventeen minutes to go," the English instructor at the front of the classroom said, while chimes rang out from the hallway, "before we begin boarding the buses. Please remain quietly in your seats until then."

The students all complied, at least until the teacher had walked out of the room. Once he was gone, people turned around in their desks, or moved out of them altogether, so they could chat amongst themselves. Takuya busied himself by pulling out his briefcase and rummaging through it. He had just located the folder he'd been digging around for when the urge to duck seized him.

In that split second, Takuya was divided. Every instinct in his body demanded that he lower his head out of range. Something was coming his way, outside his field of vision. He knew this with every fiber of his being. At the same time, however, it seemed unlikely that any serious threat was taking place here at school. Takuya, therefore, held his reflexes tightly within his metaphorical iron grip and waited.

Sure enough, the second ticked by, and a pencil smacked him upside the back of his head.

"Ow," he declared in the driest tone possible.

"Wow," came Hitomi's voice. "You sound bored out of your mind even when somebody attacks you."

Takuya turned around to watch as Hitomi slid into the empty seat behind him; it's normal occupant having already vacated it. He was given an unexpected view of her gorgeous legs before she smoothed the uniform dress down.

"So," Takuya said, raising his eyes back up to her face, which was far from unpleasant to look at, "are you finally speaking to me again?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, seemingly surprised by the question.

"I left you behind," he reminded, growing annoyed, and not bothering to hide it. "You said that I took off and left you to deal with your camera being stolen, or some such nonsense."

"That was yesterday," Hitomi replied nonchalantly, waving her hand as though fanning Takuya's words away. "And my camera wasn't stolen. If you'd been listening properly, you would know that."

"Your memory card, then," Takuya clarified, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Whichever it was, you said it got taken by a masked man who could fly."

Takuya was keeping his voice low, even though it was evident that no one else around them was bothering to listen in. The rest of his classmates had split off into groups, chatting about club events, homework, or how cool it was to get half a day off from school.

"I really don't think he could fly," Hitomi corrected, looking thoughtful. "It was more like he jumped really high. The stick fluid he shot out was strange, too."

"Sounds gross," Takuya dismissed, feigning disinterest. "So, is this some new costumed weirdo for your father's news site to follow up on?"

"It could be," Hitomi said seriously, getting excited. "I told my father all about it after school let out He was pissed that my pictures got stolen, but we both think it's worth pursuing."

"Well, good for you," replied Takuya; though, privately, he was very worried.

Hitomi being mad at him yesterday for leaving her had seemed like the ideal solution. Takuya had figured–or hoped, rather–that she would forget about the mysterious Spider-Man that had prevented Shuichi's gang from being slaughtered in the alley. It was a fool's hope in the end, of course, but Takuya hadn't come up with a better plan yet. Specifically, he hadn't had the time.

"Look, you're new to this school," Hitomi went on, almost lecturing Takuya at this point. "You don't know it, but a superhero swooping down and rescuing people doesn't happen every day here."

"We're both new to this school," Takuya reminded her dryly, giving her an unamused look at being spoken to like a child. "Both of us graduated from different middle schools this spring."

" _Sou_ ," Hitomi acknowledged, reluctantly. "But I went to school with a lot of the students here. And I know this area better than you."

Takuya felt like he was being put upon by Hitomi now.

"My mother's clinic is located in town," he reminded, hating that he was having to explain something really obvious. "I live there, and so do my parents. We've been in this place for almost a decade, since the government asked for people with medical expertise to come in and help survivors of Hurricane K."

"But your clinic is on the wayside of town," Hitomi pointed out, saying this like her point should have been obvious. "Shin Mugenjo is an artificial island. Superheroes tend to stay on the mainland, in the center of Tokyo. We don't get a lot of superhero activity in this area."

Takuya turned around in his seat, facing away from Hitomi. He made a show of not speaking, chosing instead to ruffle through his briefcase once more. In truth, he needed a moment to collect himself. So far, he wasn't enjoying the direction where the conversation was going.

"You're saying that this weirdo could be Shin Mugenjo's very own personal superhero?" Takuya said at last, when he could no longer justify riffling through his briefcase without pulling something he didn't need out. "And your father's site is looking to promote him?"

" _Hai_ ," Hitomi declared, happy to see Takuya reach the proper conclusion.

"Well, leave me out of it." Takuya stood up from his desk, taking both his briefcase and the file folder he'd extracted from it earlier with him. "I have enough on my plate as it is."

"Where are you going?" Hitomi asked, getting to her feet next. "The bell hasn't sounded yet."

Takuya held up the file in his hand for her to see.

"I have to drop this off in the teacher's study," he explained. "It's that report Tatewaki-sensei asked for. I was late finishing it, and the field trip means I won't be here this afternoon to turn it in."

Hitomi was interested now.

"What were you doing that meant you couldn't turn the report in on time?" she asked, trying to snatch it from Takuya's hand.

" _Nande monai_ ," he replied, using a little bit of his enhanced agility to keep the file away from her. "See you on the bus, I guess."

No teacher had come into the room to replace the one that had left. Takuya peeked out the door to do a quick check of the hallway. It was deserted, which put him in the clear. Quickly, though not at a speed that would be considered abnormal, he rushed down the hall to the bottom floor where the teacher's study was.

"Let's hope the Dragon of Shin Kyoboku is feeling generous today," Takuya said to himself as he rounded a corner heading toward the study.

Takuya sprinted ahead to the door leading into the teacher's study. The room, unsurprisingly, was occupied with several of the school's teachers. Most of them were standing around talking with one another and drinking coffee. Only one sat at her desk, looking like she was doing any actual work. Takuya held up his file and nodded in greeting when one of the standing teachers noticed him enter.

"I need to leave this with Tatewaki-sensei," he explained, giving the file a shake. "It's for school. Is he in right now?"

More than one teacher turned to look at each other. Takuya found this unusual, but decided it didn't matter. Whatever it was, he didn't think it would be worth missing the bus for his grade's field trip today.

"He hasn't come into school today," replied one of the bolder teachers. "But his desk is right over there. You can leave it for him there, if you'd like."

Takuya gave a bow of thanks, then followed the teacher's pointing finger to Tatewaki-sensei's desk. The desk was located at the very back of the study, and it stood out for two reasons. The first was that it was by far the messiest desk in the entire room. Stacks of books sat piled on top. There were papers scattered everywhere, enough that you could barely make out the console. The recycle bin next to it was overflowing as well. Takuya thought he detected the smell of a leftover lunch that had been sitting out for too long, and was buried somewhere underneath the mound.

The second reason, however, stood out more prominently, even more so than the state of disarray the desk was in. This distraction took the form of Mamiya Saki. The girl was holding something in her hand, studying it closely, as Takuya approached.

"We meet again," he tried, hoping to sound cooler and less nervous than he felt. "And this time, no one is trying to beat you up."

Saki didn't smile at his words. Her eyes left the thing in her hand briefly to flick down at the floor around his feet.

"And you're wearing the correct shoes indoors," she noted, holding whatever was in her hand back out of his view. "I hope you didn't track dirt in this time."

"I didn't track dirt in last time," Takuya replied, pouting. "My shoes were clean when I came through. I made sure of it."

Saki didn't answer. Her attention went back to the thing she was holding. Now that he was closer, Takuya could tell that it was some kind of metal disk. Despite Saki's efforts to keep it hidden, he could see well enough to guess that it was something hand-carved.

"What's that?" he asked, feeling nosy, and wanting to talk to the beautiful fighter girl some more.

"Is there some reason why you're here?" Saki asked instead, avoiding his own question.

Takuya held up the folder in his hand.

"Overdue paper," he explained at once. "I was supposed to turn it in today, but can't because of the field trip. Say, aren't you going on that too?"

Again, Saki didn't answer his question.

"Tatewaki-sensei isn't here," she said, setting the metal disk down on their teacher's messy desk. "They said he was out sick or something."

Turning, Saki walked away, leaving Takuya behind. He was all set to feel dejected over having been blown off when she called out to him.

"See you on the buses, maybe."

Takuya watched her leave wearing a big smile on his face. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the report for Tatewaki-sensei onto the topmost pile of papers on the desk. The metal object that Saki had been studying caught his eye. Feeling curious, Takuya picked the strange disk up to study it more closely.

It was a surprisingly heavy thing for something that was only a little bit bigger than the palm of his hand. The metal appeared to be gold, though it felt too solid for such a soft substance. Someone had painstakingly designed the artifact so that it was hollow on the inside. Each side of the exterior had been inordinately shaped. Takuya realized that it was the face of a frightening dragon breathing fire on one side. The opposite side had the same dragon in full form, lashing out with its claws.

"Eh," Takuya muttered, giving the disk a toss. "I suppose it's suitable. They do call him the Dragon of Shin Kyoboku, after all."

There was something else as well. Takuya didn't notice at first, but tossing the medallion into the air brought it closer to his nostrils. It may have been that the metal confused his sense of smell. Either way, Takuya realized as the medallion spun back down that there was blood on it.

"Weird," he said, placing it back on Tatewaki-sensei's desk where it would be visible.

Takuya took a step, and froze as the sound of chimes ringing out in the corridor past the door reached his ears.

"Ahh," he said, hurrying along. "I'm late!"

Being that he was on the ground floor, Takuya was actually early. He managed to reach the electrical-powered bus that the school had commandeered for the trip before his classmates. The rest of Class-C didn't arrive for several more minutes. Takuya used this time to change his shoes appropriately using his SMARTwatch, then lingered off to the side as though he belonged there.

"There you are," Hitomi said, arriving with the others. "I was beginning to worry you were scheming to ditch."

"Nah, it's a field trip," he replied, moving to stand in line behind her. "That means we're all ditching, but with permission."

"And, ditching with permission is better?" Hitomi challenged, while the line to board the bus moved forward.

"Iie," he said, moving when someone behind him smacked his back. "Less risky, though, and I feel lazy today."

"You're always lazy," Hitomi declared as she ascended the bus steps. "Come sit with me, though. I'd rather have a lazy-bones than one of the pervs in Class-D trying to look up my skirt."

Takuya followed obediently, sitting next to Hitomi–who had claimed the window for herself–seven rows down from the bus driver.

"Does this mean you'll let me see up your skirt instead?" he asked, feeling brave at the moment, while Hitomi stared out the window. "Assuming I do a good job, I mean."

Hitomi turned and gave Takuya a withering glare.

"I'll take that as a 'no', then." Takuya saw movement outside in the line that was now stretched out alongside the bus. "Hey, that's her!"

Takuya pointed down toward a young girl who was just beginning to line up with their window. Hitomi watched Takuya for a moment like he'd lost his mind, but then followed the direction of his pointing finger.

"She's the girl I saw in the alley the other day," he explained. "And, I saw her just a few minutes ago in the teacher's study."

"I know her," Hitomi realized, sitting up in her seat. "That's Mamiya Saki from Class-D. I've heard her father works for the metropolitan police department."

Takuya was interested.

"Her dad's a cop?" he asked, feeling worried all of a sudden.

"It's what I've heard," Hitomi said with a shrug as she settled back into her seat again. "What was she doing in the teacher's study?"

"No idea," Takuya stated, doing the same. "Looking at something that was on Tatewaki-sensei's desk, I think. Not sure why she was so interested in it, though."

"Maybe she was planning to steal something?" Hitomi offered, getting excited now. "She could have gone in to get a look at Tatewaki-sensei's answer spreadsheets."

"She wasn't using his persocom," Takuya informed her, dryly. "And besides, the place had too many teachers in it. They'd have noticed if she was doing something illegal."

A thought occurred to Takuya then.

"What makes you think she was there to steal something anyway?"

"She's a police officer's daughter," Hitomi pointed out, then speaking again before Takuya could offer a sarcastic response, "They have something to prove so that people won't think they're complete goodie-goodie children."

Takuya opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it and kept quiet. There was the small possibility that Hitomi's hypothesis held validity. More than that, though, Takuya knew something about preconceptions and how a person could react to them. The last thing he wanted was to accuse someone of theft in relation to who they associated with.

* * *

"Single file," Kasamatsu-sensei announced loudly. "Three lines, straight forward to the doors, and be sure to check your phones and SMARTwatches with security before passing through the metal detectors."

Hitomi and Takuya did as they were instructed by the female teacher, who continued to bark the same set of instructions over and over. Some of it, Takuya reasoned, was because they were among the first group of students to arrive at the museum.

Of course, the more like situation was that the woman knew she was being ignored.

"They need this much security for a bunch of old junk that got shipped here from Korea?" Hitomi marveled, eyeing the guards by the doors warily. "Is this supposed to be a museum or a prison?"

"It's for the insurance," someone next to Takuya explained, and he jumped back slightly upon realizing who it was that spoke.

Saki was waiting idly in the line next to theirs, on Takuya's right. When Takuya jumped, she looked straight at him like he had lost his mind.

"Gomen," Takuya apologized, blushing. "I didn't mean... you startled me, that's all. Hey, this is the first time I think you've spoken to me."

Saki kept looking, though her expression shifted slightly.

"You know," Takuya went on, "without someone attacking you, or me rescuing you when you didn't need it."

This actually got the reserved young lady to smile, though it was only for a split second. Takuya reasoned that he might not have noticed the phenomenon were it not for his spider powers.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Hitomi spoke out, reaching over to extend a handshake to Saki. "Name's Sakuma Hitomi. Takuya-san has told me all about you."

Takuya's blush deepened as Saki gave a skeptical look his way before accepting Hitomi's handshake.

"I hadn't realized there was much to tell," she said, while in front of them all, the lines began slowly moving forward toward the front doors.

"There wasn't," Takuya muttered, lowering his voice due to Kasamatsu-sensei making her rounds down between their lines. "I mean, that is... I just mentioned to her about running into you outside the school."

Saki had nothing to say in response to this. Takuya swallowed, figuring he would be better off shutting his mouth. It seemed like he got into less trouble that way, anyhow.

The three reached the front doors at the same time. Hitomi dashed across to the line on their left while Kasamatsu-sensei was distracted. The girl behind her had paused to send a quick text message on her phone, leaving a wide gap for Hitomi to exploit. Quickly, she deposited her phone in the tray provided by the waiting guard before moving on ahead through the metal detectors.

Saki did the same in her life, passing through into the museum without incident. This only left Takuya, who by default, managed to set the detectors off the instant his foot touched the pad.

"Don't shoot!" he called out, suddenly very aware of the fact that most of the guards were armed with stun blasters. "I'm unarmed, I swear."

Hitomi and Saki were both staring with him, along with most of the class, indoors and outside through the glass panels. The guards, for the most part, looked very subdued.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Kasamatsu-sensei asked, striding over toward Takuya with her back straightened like a metal rode, a clear sign that she was unhappy.

"Could you step backward for just a moment?" the female guard asked Takuya, before she pushed in some sort of code into the detector's control panel.

Takuya complied, and waited while the machine seemed to reset itself.

"Step through again, please?" the guardswoman asked politely, motioning for Takuya to proceed, which he did.

The alarm sounded again before Takuya was halfway through. Slumping his shoulders, he waited for the inevitable outcome. Somehow, Takuya knew his spider powers were responsible. There was no obvious reason for them to have triggered the metal detectors; at least, that he knew of. He wasn't wearing his SMARTwatch, though, or anything else that could have triggered the alarm.

Kasamatsu-sensei was staring at him, and so were the other students. One guardsman standing off to the side glared like he was going to tackle Takuya at any moment. The female guard, meanwhile, merely stepped around the machine holding a portable scanning device.

"Hold still," she instructed, before waving the scanner up and down his body, making sure to cover his arms and legs as well.

"He's clean," she declared, a moment later, while Takuya's heartbeat raced. "Sir, have you had any necessary agumentation surgery in the last year or so?"

Hitomi, who had moved in closer to watch along with Saki, snorted. The noise was loud enough to get Takuya and the female guard's attention.

"Please," she said sardonically. "You can't have augmentive surgery before you're eighteen. And does he look like an Augment?"

The female guard turned back to Takuya, giving him a once over.

"At least she didn't call me an Auggie," Takuya muttered, referring to the pejorative term used to describe those who had cybernetic augmentations surgically attached to their bodies in order to correct paralysis and other ailments–or who did it to become more powerful.

The female guard, on the other hand, seemed to come to a decision. Nodding, she put the scanner away and stepped back around the metal detector.

"Step around the machine, please," she instructed. "We'll have to run a system scan on the device after this batch goes through."

"Best use the portable scanner," the other guard–the male one who had been watching Takuya before–recommended. "We can check the rest with those while you run diagnostics."

The woman nodded, and that was the last Takuya saw of her. Quickly, before anyone could change their mind, he swiftly dodged around the machine and joined Hitomi on the other side. Saki watched him the whole time, like she was mulling something over in her head. The fact that he'd managed to make the girl suspicious caused Takuya some discomfort internally, but he was too relieved to care for longer than a minute or two.

"They make us go through all that," Hitomi grumbled, not registering Takuya's distress, "and they can't even get machines to function properly."

"Odd," Saki noted, watching as other students were scanned before being let through. "Nothing has gone wrong with the rest of the class."

Saki turned from the lines of students being let through–albeit at a much slower pace now–to look straight at Takuya.

"You're not an Augment, are you?" she asked bluntly.

Hitomi found this very funny. Her laughter echoed up the high walls of the grand entrance area and around the winged staircase.

"You've never seen Takuya-san play dodgeball before in the gym," she teased, leaning toward Saki like it was some conspiratorial secret. "He can't even hold the ball well, much less dodge properly."

Hitomi's words seemed to satisfy Saki.

"We should get our phones back and Ikegami-san's SMARTwatch," she suggested, nodding her head toward the three guards waiting at tables set up behind the metal detectors.

The guards had all of their gear set up in metal bowls. Each bowl contained a different student's personal belongings. Takuya located the one that had a single SMARTwatch inside of it–his, for good measure–and placed the device back around his wrist. It didn't look as though the device had been touched the whole time it was off his body; a relief, since his clothing was controlled by the little thing.

"Ready?" Hitomi asked, coming back over with her phone out. "Dad wants me to get a few pictures of the place, just in case."

"Why?" Takuya wondered, while Saki joined the two of them once more. "Is he expecting a supervillain attack on the place?"

"Probably," Hitomi admitted, though it was clear she meant it as a joke. "I'd like a few for myself, actually."

"Same," said Saki, holding up her own phone so that the tiny camera lens attached to it was visible. "Where are we going first?"

Takuya was a little taken back by Saki's willingness to join them. He couldn't think of a reason for her not to, though, and Hitomi certainly didn't seem to mind, either.

"This way," Hitomi suggested, pointing to the sweeping winged staircase on the right. "Let's hurry before Kasamatsu-sensei decides to pair us all up into different groups."

There were no protests made from Saki, the alleged daughter of a police officer. The three made their way to the stairs, with Takuya stepping aside to allow the ladies to go first. The rest of the classrooms were milling around on the lower floor still, or else were the last ones being scanned. Kasamatsu-sensei never noticed them quietly slipping away.

"I guess the coast is clear now," said Hitomi, once they were safely on the second floor landing. "Let's see... how about thi–?"

"This way." Saki pointed, indicating a side corridor beyond the landing that opened up into several display rooms. "This stuff looks interesting."

Saki moved down the hallway without waiting for the others. Takuya turned to Hitomi and shrugged, following after their disappearing friend. Hitomi came after a moment later. Someone bumped into her, coming up off the stairs. Hitomi cried out as she stumbled forward, holding onto her phone and accidentally pressing the icon on the screen to snap a photo.

"Watch it," Hitomi protested, though it was in vain, as the lone figure moved on ahead through the main entrance on the second floor.

"You alright?" Takuya asked, going back to her.

"Fine," Hitomi grumbled, moving on ahead past him. "Let's just go. Some people can be so rude, you know?"

Takuya followed after Hitomi and Saki, who had slowed down so Hitomi could catch up some. The side corridor had several paintings in different styles by various artists hanging from the white walls. Takuya observed them idly as he followed along after, the artwork only mildly piquing his interest.

"Anything in particular we're looking for?" Takuya asked, sticking his head into one of the display rooms as they passed by.

"A bathroom would be nice," said Hitomi, walking along beside Saki, who had her own camera phone out. "I forgot to go before we left the school."

"There's one down here," Saki offered, gesturing up ahead to a left fork at the end of the corridor. "Take a left and keep going until you come to the sign."

"I'll go too," said Takuya, turning away from an oil painting he had been studying. "Just... not with you. I'll be in the boys' room."

Hitomi stopped in mid-step, and she turned to give Takuya a flat look.

"There really was no need for you to elaborate on that," she said dryly, "but it's nice to know, I guess."

The two left Saki to herself in the hallway. The left corridor where the hall forked did in fact have a set of bathrooms, located halfway down. Hitomi reached the girls' room first, leaving Takuya to duck inside the boys' facility. There was no line at the urinal, and since he only had to pee, it didn't take long.

Washing his hands, Takuya flicked them free of the stray droplets before holding them under one of the electric hand dryer units. Hitomi wasn't waiting for him outside, so Takuya leaned against a wall. Minutes passed, but there was no sign of her.

"What could be taking her?" he wondered, opening up the holo-display on his SMARTwatch out of boredom. "Did she fall in?"

Hitomi chose that moment to exit the ladies' room. Takuya waited while she marched right past him without looking up. Being given the brush-off took him by surprise, so it was a moment before he caught up with her. Hitomi had her phone out the entire time, giving not so much as a glance to the people she almost walked into, paying attention instead to something on the viewing screen.

"Hey, wait up!" Takuya called out, making quick apologies to the stunned pedestrians left in her wake. "Sorry, excuse us. She's... ah, in a hurry, apparently."

Takuya held back from using his spider-like reflexes to catch up, meaning he didn't reach Hitomi until they were both back in the corridor with Saki.

"I took some pictures while you were away," Saki told her, holding the phone in her hand up so she and Takuya could both see. "Want me to send them to you so you'll have copies for your father?"

Hitomi looked from Saki over to Takuya. She appeared confused briefly, but nodded her head.

"Sure, I guess," she mumbled. "Um, go right ahead."

Saki blinked, staring right at Hitomi, which made the girl visibly uncomfortable.

"I need your number," Saki reminded, after about a minute of very awkward silence.

Hitomi had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could answer.

"Oh, right," she said quickly, each word puncuated by the nervousness coming off of her in waves. "Sorry, I thought I'd given it to you."

As Hitomi held up her phone so that Saki could read the number off it, Takuya realized something. The phone in his friend's hand wasn't the one she normally carried. Furthermore, it was a much better–and far more expensive–model than anything a student at their school carried.

"Ah, Hitomi," he said, frowning. "When did you get a Sakura model?"

Hitomi went rigid. Takuya felt his body reacting before she even had the chance to move. As it was, Hitomi was still able to swing her leg up, then back, at the spot where Takuya's head was. His reflexive precognition ability let his body react to the attack before it happened, meaning Hitomi's foot caught air. The strike was still enough to shock Takuya, so he wasn't prepared when she scowled and swung her foot around to kick again.

"Aagghhh!" Takuya cried out, feeling the unexpected pain as the blow hit him in the back. "What the–?"

Hitomi shoved Saki next–or tried to. Saki saw the attack coming and took a half-step backward. It saved Saki from falling, but Hitomi somehow knew what to do. Saki ended up getting judo flipped onto the hard museum floor. With the expensive phone still in one hand, Hitomi fled the scene while onlookers all around them stared.

"Was it something I said?" Takuya wondered, getting to his feet.

Saki was standing as well, looking from Takuya to the left corridor where Hitomi had vanished through.

"I'm going to go after her," Saki said, but Takuya was already running. "Hey, wait up!"

Hitomi was nowhere to be found. The left hallway leading to the restrooms wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been. Takuya passed by one elderly woman staring at a painting on the wall like she was transfixed, giving a quick apology before racing onward.

"Hold up," Saki ordered, coming to a stop outside the ladies room. "You both went to the restrooms earlier, right?"

Takuya slid to a stop and turned back the way he'd come.

"Yes," he answered, jogging back to Saki's side, "but I don't see how that–"

"Wait out here," Saki interrupted, then dove into the ladies room, leaving Takuya outside to wait by himself once more.

He didn't have to wait long, however. Saki emerged a minute later with Hitomi, her arm secured around the girl's shoulders. It looked like Hitomi had a headache. She was clutching one temple with her hand.

"What happened?" Takuya demanded, coming to Hitomi's side at once. "First you get a new phone, and then you attack both of us?"

"What?" Hitomi asked as though she had no idea what Takuya meant. "Attack you? This is the first time I've seen you since we went to the restrooms."

"She was coming out of one of the stalls," Saki explained, stroking the back of Hitomi's head tenderly. "I think somebody jumped her."

None of that made any sense to Takuya whatsoever.

"But," he began, eyes darting around wildly for some clue as to what was going on, "we both saw her. Together, in the hallway. She was standing right there..."

"But, I never left the restroom," Hitomi countered, upset. "I don't remember any of that. Saki found me in there–"

Hitomi paused to point back behind her at the ladies room entrance.

"–right after I woke up. Someone grabbed me from behind and hit me upside the head. I was out cold until just now."

None of it made any sense, but Takuya was inclined to believe his friend was telling the truth. Hitomi did in fact look like she was hurt. The way she leaned into Saki caused Takuya to think she might have a concussion.

"Can you take her to Kasamatsu-sensei?" he pleaded, speaking to Saki. "She may have head trauma from a blow like that. I'll go and see if I can't find a security guard or something. If she's been attacked, and by somebody that looks like her, they need to know."

Saki wasn't being difficult for a change. Nodding, she helped Hitomi back down the hall toward the area where they had all been. Once the girls were well enough out of sight, Takuya dove into the gentlemen's room. The urinals were crowded, but there was a free stall available. Takuya swiftly ducked inside and locked the door behind him.

"Time for a quick change," he muttered to himself, bringing up the holo-display on his SMARTwatch. "Let's see if the amazing Spider-Man can do something about this mess."

Activating his costume, Takuya stood still while the clothes around him shifted, taking the form of his Spider-Man uniform. The costume took shape, and Takuya shifted it into camouflage mode next. The translucent stealth system allowed the suit to mimic the colors and vague shape of whatever was around or behind him.

"It's not invisibility," Spider-Man mused, already feeling the suit getting warmer as a result, "but it'll have to do."

Leaping straight up into the air, Spider-Man took hold of the ceiling using the small claws protruding from his fingertips. The gentlemen below him never bothered to look up, being too involved in the process of emptying their bladders. It was the same outside–excluding any messy puddles. The museum patrons fixed their eyes on the artwork around them; not the ceiling.

"Lucky for me," Spider-Man said happily, "the people here have better things to look at than a friendly neighborhood wall-crawler."

It was easy getting around in the museum. Once Spider-Man reached the rafters, there was little need for stealth mode. Nothing below him suggested illicit activity

"So, where did our Hitomi look-alike go to?" Spider-Man asked himself, accidently shaking a wall when he landed on it too hard.

This brought the attention of two museum patrons, meaning Spider-Man was forced to slip back into camouflage mode. For good measure, he somersaulted through the air over toward a less crowded display area. This region of the museum had an open ceiling leading to the third floor. There was a platform with suspended banners proclaiming an old Egyptian exhibit.

With his enhanced eyesight, Spider-Man spotted movement up there. Curious, and having found no other leads, he flipped and webspun his way up to the Pharaoh display.

"With my luck," Spider-Man grumbled, getting frustrated by the lack of progress, "this'll have all turned out to be just some random prank."

There was, it seemed, someone moving around in the Egyptian display area. Spider-Man crept forward, keeping himself in camouflage mode as he crawled along the wall.

"Or," he added, spying the figure on the opposite side of the room, "just a random bit of typical Tokyo weirdness."

The figure was a young woman, not much older than him. Her long hair, swept up in a ponytail, was colored a bright shade of violet. The same color existed in strange patterns over her clothes, which were fashioned out of a fabric Spider-Man didn't recognized. It almost looked like scaly lizard skin of some kind. The green color that the purple patterns interspaced through helped give the impression.

She was obviously of mixed descent; a combination of Japanese and Korean, perhaps. The young woman had her eye on a gold-colored rod made of metal inside a glass case in the back. While he watched, the woman looked around the room, then placed a device at the base of the stand. The case that the stand rested on didn't move, but Spider-Man could tell what she was doing.

"Deactivating the security," he murmured to himself, switching off the camouflage on his suit. "Looks like we've got a thief on our hands. Who'd wanna rob a museum in broad daylight, though?"

When the security alarms were disarmed, the lady in green pressed her palm to the glass case. Spider-Man expected her to cut the glass. Instead, before his very eyes, the glass melted away.

"A mutant?" Spider-Man wondered, while the woman reached into the damaged case to pull out the Egyptian rod.

It was clear she was up to no good. Spider-Man could get that she might not be a professional. The way she kept looking around her, expecting to get caught, gave it away.

"Now there's an outfit that won't make you standout," Spider-Man said loudly to get her attention. "Not if you're hanging around in Harajuku, for instance."

Flipping forward, Spider-Man cut several impressive gymnastic flips through the air on his way to the floor, landing in front of the thief. The woman jumped back; the rod still clutched in her hand.

"Kuso!" she swore out loud. "What–?"

"–am I doing here?" Spider-Man guessed, interrupting her. "Just a concerned citizen with far too much time on his hands. That, and I suspect you of impersonating a young woman here in the museum."

Hitomi's impersonator looked around guiltily.

"How did you know about that?" she wondered, then realized that the rod was still in her hands, right in front of him. "I mean–"

"You see a lot from up above when you hang out in rafters," Spider-Man explained by way of an excuse. "Besides, you should feel ashamed of yourself, robbing a museum during the day. And when other criminals have to sneak in at night."

The lecture wasn't what the woman had expected.

"How do you know–?"

"Planning a heist takes time," Spider-Man interrupted again. "I've heard lots of crooks complain about it. I mean, you know, after I busted them for breaking and entering. Speaking of which–"

Spider-Man took aim and fired a web line, snagging it on the rod. A quick yank pulled it into his grasp, leaving the thief empty-handed.

"This is all I need," he said cheerfully, tossing the web-covered rod up and down in the air. "You should probably surrender. I'd have asked you to put this back, but–"

To his surprise, the thief lunged forward. Spider-Man's reflexes saved him again, guiding him to spring forward and handstand jump off her shoulder. Landing back on his field, he turned around with both arms raised.

"Ta-da!" he cried, as though ending a performance. "Like I was saying, experience has taught me–"

A fist came flying at him, attached to the angry form of the green-clad thief.

"...not–" Spider-Man went on, dodging as he continued talking. "...to–"

A spin kick struck next, missing his head thanks to a nicely timed jerk of the neck sideways.

"...expect–" said Spider-Man, still chatting away idly. "...that–"

The thief brought her food around again, so Spider-Man ducked, ending up landing in a ridiculous split with each leg sticking out in opposite directions.

"...from criminals," he finished, looking up at her. "Say, you're pretty determined for a petty outlaw. Any particular reason you're–"

"Hold still!" the thief cried out, trying and failing to punch him in the head. "Who are you, anyway?"

Spider-Man rolled backward, pushing himself off the floor into a backward flip. As he landed on his feet, the superhero tossed the rod away, leaving both hands free to fight with. The rod landed exactly where he had aimed it for: the hole in the display case.

"Two points," Spider-Man declared, webbing the hole closed. "And, this is what I get for working the superhero business without hiring a publicist first, I guess. The name is Spider-Man."

Spider-Man struck a pose, keeping both hands in front of him as he knelt on the floor.

"Like it?" he asked expectantly. "I worked on the idea for a while. Thought about calling myself Fly-Boy instead, but..."

Spider-Man had to dodge out of the way again. This time, the thief tossed several small orbs at him. The marble-sized objects splattered against the floor, covering it in a green acid that ate at the foundation right away.

"–as you can see," Spider-Man was saying, landing near one of the sarcophaguses resting against a nearby wall, "there are no wings on me."

The thief tried tossing more acid balls at him, but Spider-Man moved deftly out of their path.

"Hey, careful!" he warned, feeling a slight sting through his costume as a droplet from the acid splatter touched him. "Somebody's gonna have to pay for these damages, and this suit of mine wasn't easy to come buy."

The thief let out a groan of frustration, charging forward to confront Spidey again in a duel of fisticuffs.

"So, what's your name, beautiful?" Spider-Man asked, blocking her strikes using his enhanced agility. "I told you mine, so a fair exchange of information feels in order. Maybe you could give me your number while you're at it, hm?"

"They called me Chameleon," she spat out, getting in a lucky punch that connected across his jaw, leaving Spider-Man dazed. "And I so don't have time for you."

Chameleon backed away, leaving the stunned Spider-Man alone. Realizing that he wasn't going to pursue her, she ran to the display case holding the rod.

"This stuff," she complained, getting her fingers tangled up in his webbing as she tried to push through it. "It's worse than cotton candy. Argh!"

One quick punch with her fist shattered the glass casing, leaving her free to snatch the rod once more. Spider-Man, having shaken off the little birds that were flying around his head, looked on as Chameleon held the rod up in triumph.

"Chameleon, huh?" he surmised, giving her the once over. "I guess it works, given the outfit. Sorry to have to tell you this, though, but I can't let you walk outta here with that."

"So what will you do?" she asked boldly while attaching the rod to her belt. "Arrest me?"

"No," Spider-Man admitted freely, holding his arm up. "I won't be doing that. But, between the two of us–"

The web line he fired stuck to the device that Chameleon had used to null the alarm system. Spider-Man gave it a quick tug, snatching the silencer free. As he caught it in his hand, alarms began blaring all around them.

"–I'm betting that I'm the one who has less of a reason to be afraid of the police."

To his surprise, Chameleon did not look worried. A smile spread across her face as she relaxed her body, standing casually with her arms hanging outward.

"Are you so sure about that?" she asked.

Then, to Spider-Man's utter astoundment, Chameleon... changed. Her body seemed to take on a liquid aspect briefly. It was only for a second or so, but the effect was no less unsettling. In a moment, she had gone from a female thief in outlandish attire to a tall, older male. The clothing shifted as well, becoming the standard uniform for a museum employee.

"How about now?"

Spider-Man stared, not sure how to explain what just happened, and not so sure he would like any explanation the woman might provide.

"Oh, now that is just cheating!" he declared, pointing a finger accusingly. "Though, it does explain the name."

The security guards, of course, picked that exact moment to barge in. Spider-Man had just enough time to decide on the best course of action. Unfortunately, the guards all drew their stun weapons and pointed them at him.

"He tried to steal something from one of the displays," Chameleon cried out in a male voice, backing out of the line of fire. "I couldn't stop him. Please, help!"

"Hey, you can change your voice, too?" Spider-Man asked, getting distracted briefly. "Oh, wait. There are bigger problems here."

"Don't move," one of the guards warned, taking careful aim.

"Listen," Spider-Man tried, hoping he could reason with them. "I would really love to stand here and explain how the real thief is actually right over there–"

Quickly, he pointed to where Chameleon was getting away, exiting the display room with the rod tucked away just out of sight under the coat she now wore.

"–and getting away, but–"

Taking to the air with a jump, Spider-Man backflipped and webslung for the door, giving chase after Chameleon. The guards were behind him, and one fired the stun weapon, burning a black smudge in the white wall.

"–clearly, none of you are in a mood to listen!"

It wasn't hard to figure out which person was really Chameleon. She had already shifted forms again by the time Spider-Man got to the third floor stairs. The retreating figure who kept looking back and up gave herself away. Spider-Man took after the old man who moved like an Olympic sprinter down the steps.

Behind him, the museum guards followed after, still holding their weapons. None of them were firing at a crowded stairwell, which was a good thing. However, it meant that they hadn't given up yet on thinking that Spider-Man was a thief.

"You know," said Spider-Man, taking a shortcut by sliding down the handrail after Chameleon, "when this is over with, and I've webbed you up to a wall, we're going to have a nice chat with these guys about how I didn't actually steal anything."

"Sorry, Spider," said Chameleon, turning around to face him as he reached the bottom floor with her. "I just haven't got the time, but you were an exciting date."

One of Chameleon's orbs flew out from her fingers, hitting him directly in the face. Instead of acid, however, a cloud of purple smoke appeared. The gas struck Spider-Man like a punch to the gut, leaving him breathless. Gasping for air, he tried to see through the haze of tears in his eyes underneath the mask.

"Where.. did she–?" he gasped out fruitlessly.

Chameleon had already gone, vanished into thin air.

"Probably in a completely different form, too," Spidey reasoned, as his healing powers began to filter the gas out of his system. "Guess that means–"

"Freeze!"

Behind him, the guards had formed a half circle, covering Spider-Man on one side. All of them had their stun weapons raised and were prepared to fire.

"Don't move," the chief of security, who stood in the center of the semi-circumference, warned. "We are prepared to fire."

The museum patrons on the ground floor were already moving out of the way. Spider-Man did a quick head count to ensure no one would be caught in the crossfire. The last thing he needed was for some innocent civilian to get mixed up in his fiasco.

"I see that," he said jokingly. "But thanks for letting me know. Bu-bye now!"

Webbing himself up to the ceiling, Spider-Man crawled along as fast as his arms and legs would carry him. It took a second for the guards to catch up with what had happened. That gave him more than enough time to switch to camouflage mode and find a safe place to change back to Takuya.

"Wait until Hitomi hears about this," he grumbled, locating the rest of his class. "Assuming she didn't pass out from that blow to her head."

* * *

Friday; May 4

4:22 p.m.

It was much later when Spider-Man lighted on the roof of Shugekyo Middle School. Afternoon meant that schools everywhere were letting out. Students would be leaving after-school club activities to head for home, or else stop by their local game centers for a few token rounds with friends.

For Spider-Man, it meant his usual patrol.

"Just a quick stop off," he mused quietly to himself, looking out across the cityscape from the fence surrounding the rooftop.

It had been here, roughly a year ago, that everything had begun.

"I still remembered the promise I made," he said, looking back over his shoulder at the barren roof of his old middle school. "The promise... we made."

This wasn't the first time that he had been up here, as Spider-Man or Ikegami Takuya. A little over one year ago, his best friend had died. One year ago, he received his powers in an accident after his whole world imploded. Truths were exposed as lies, but out of all of them, the fact that his friend died remained constant.

"I guess I'll never know," Spider-Man said resignedly.

Hitomi had been furious at missing a real superhero battle. She was also worried about her father being angry at not having an pictures for his blog. It turns out, the museum had an infirmary for people who felt sick, and for those on staff who were injured. The blow to the head hadn't seriously damaged her, but Kasamatsu-sensei told her to wait on the bus just in case. Saki had been there with her the entire time, missing Chameleon's escape.

"At least it was her," Spider-Man added thoughtfully, standing up out of his crouch to stretch.

It was time to finish his patrol and head home. Ka-san would be waiting, and he had chores to do around the house in addition to his homework. Perhaps, if things were quiet on the streets, he could go to bed early.

"It'd be nice, catching up on sleep for a change," Spider-Man said, snagging a web line on the building across the street before leaping off the fence. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen."


	3. S1E3 -- Enter the Dragonlord

Spider-Man:

Tokyo 2040

* * *

Episode 3

Enter the Dragonlord

by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy

* * *

Episode Guide: An adversary appears at Shin Kyoboku Gakuen, sparking a school-wide evacuation and a chase throughout the emptied corridors.

* * *

Tuesday; May 8

8:14 a.m.

The heads of the two gang members collided with a colossa thud. Their brains rattled within their skulls as Spider-Man cut a flip through the air, releasing his grip on them. His jika-tabi covered feet touched the ground at the same time their bodies collapsed behind him.

"That worked," he stated with satisfaction, sensing the next contestant's approach.

A thug armed with a bladed weapon charged at him from the side. Spider-Man was already prepared, though, and performed a simple judo throw. With his spider strength, the thug went flying through the air into the nearby all of a wall. Spider-Man couldn't help but wince at the sight of the punk's back connecting against solid brick.

"Oh, that's gotta hurt," he chided, making a tsk-tsk motion with one finger. "Maybe you should see a chiropractor about that. You know, after the cops are finished arresting all of you."

His reflexive precognition was already working overtime. Two more punks tried to rush him from behind. Spider-Man jumped into a mid-air somersault, landing on his feet again behind them. The two punks had managed to run right underneath him without understanding what just happened.

"And they will," Spider-Man added, webbing the two thugs up before they could decide on their next course of action. "I've made sure of that. Man, it is so easy these days to report a bunch of idiots for car-jacking."

The last punk came at Spider-Man with a raised fist, which may as well have been a declaration for surrender. Spider-Man dodged easily, then brought the kid down with a cross to his jaw.

"The cops take that sort of thing seriously," he finished. "Which, by the way, you guys are. Idiots, I mean, for trying to rip some poor guy's car off in broad daylight on my turf."

Spider-Man was so busy basking in the smug satisfaction of victory that he almost didn't notice. Suddenly, he was gripped by a fearful need to dodge to the right. He had no idea why, but didn't question it. A year as a fledgling superhero had taught the young man not to question his instincts. They so often knew what he was doing better than he did.

"Atta!" Spidey cried out as a red laser blast almost took off his ear underneath the mask. "Watch where you're firing that thing, whoever you are!"

Spider-Man rolled into a crouch before he had finished speaking. Ahead of him, facing the direction where his back had been pointed a moment before, was a new enemy.

"Oh, great!" Spider-Man grumbled, pushing up off the dirty concrete slightly. "What fresh hell is this?"

The attacking figure wore the garb of the Street Samurai, a new gang that had been rising up in the ranks lately. Spider-Man had tousled with them a couple of times, but this particular assailant was a new face. For one, he looked older than the typical alleyway punk. He was also sporting a cybernetic right arm; one that had been equiped with a handy laser blaster.

"I am Shingen of the Street Samurai," the punk announced, brandishing his metallic arm in a grand gesture. "And you are to die today, Spider."

The punk fired his laser at Spider-Man, who took to the walls. Using his spider-like dexterity, he flipped across the side of one building, keeping a firm grip the whole time with his fingertip claw extensions.

"Shingen?" Spidey asked as he moved out of the way of the laser's path. "Do all of you Street Samurai joksters name yourself after historical figures?"

Shingen of the Street Samurai pointed his laser blaster arm at the walls, but Spider-Man was still on the move. His feet came close to getting singed, but Spider-Man managed to keep two steps ahead of the laser.

"I mean," he went on, twisting his body into a spiral turn as he leaped across the alley onto the opposing wall, "don't get me wrong. It shows that you Street Samurai boys have done your homework."

Spider-Man ran straight up the wall on all fours, digging his claws into the brick for purchase. The laser pursued with each step he took, all the way up to the edge of the rooftop. A smoldering trail was left behind in the laser's wake, mimicking the smoking frustration of the punk wielding it.

"But," Spider-Man was saying, flipping backward off the roof's edge, "if you punks have enough spare time to study historical figures..."

Spider-Man paused as a piece of the roof's edge was blown off by the laser.

"Whoa," he exclaimed, coming to the quick conclusion that this battle had to end. "...maybe you should spend more time doing that...

Spidey ended his sentence by presenting a kick to the middle of the back at the punk.

"...instead of going after people with enhanced reflexes and superhuman strength," he finished, striking a pose as he landed. "Just a thought, really."

The punk staggered forward at the blow. Despite the attack, he appeared to be in no serious pain. This made Spider-Man think that he was fighting someone with more enhancements than just a simple robotic arm.

Sure enough, when the punk turned around again, his left eye glowed a bright orange.

"Take me down," said the punk, pressing a button somewhere on the upper part of his arm at an angle Spider-Man couldn't see, "and more will follow. This is only the beginning."

The laser blaster on the Street Samurai punk's arm retracted back. For a split second, Spider-Man entertained the faintest hope that the punk was giving himself up. This false and foolish hope evaporated into the morning sunlight trickling over the edge of the rooftops into the alley when a new weapon emerged. A different slot on the upper part of Shingen's cybernetic arm opened, and out came a small metal extension holding a miniature rocket.

"There is a price on your head, Spider," the punk revealed, clearly enjoying himself now. "And I have come to claim it, along with your thick, smartass skull!"

The rocket fired. Spider-Man only had a second to decide on a course of action for himself. Moving with his body's natural instincts–plus a year's worth of crimefighting experience–Spider-Man let his body go lax. His heartrate was pounding in his ears. Every milisecond that ticked past reminded him that the next moment could be his last.

The rocket flew past where his shoulder had been, missing grazing his body by an inch. The exhaust and sparks from the tail of it burned against the surface of his costume. Already, he could feel the nanomachines beginning repairs. He had fallen backward and bent his spine slightly, moving to the left slightly in the process. The rocket exploded behind him on contact as Spidey performed an admirable backward flip worthy of a competative gymnast.

"Well, that's great and all," Spider-Man said, keeping up with the witty banter, "but could we hurry this along, please? I've actually got somewhere I need to be, and you're cutting into my time."

The slot that had held the rocket folded back up automatically. Shingen pushed another button on his arm, bringing back the laser blaster.

"My apologies," he said, taking aim. "Feel free to die now."

Unlike before, where the laser fired a steady stream, it now let out small, sporatic bursts. These were much easier to dodge, much less see properly, even with Spidey enhanced vision.

"Ow!" he cried out, as several laser shots hit him across the chest and abdomen, leaving behind painful burn marks on his flesh. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Those really hurt!"

"They were supposed to do worse," Shingen informed, sounding irritated. "You appear tougher than you seem, Spider. Still, time to crush this bug."

Realizing he could never avoid the small laser bursts forever, Spider-Man opted to change tactics slightly. Moving into an impressive gymnast routine, he bounced back and forth on his hands and feet, alternatively. Shingen's laser blaster followed with each step, yet it also aimed just a little bit off from where Spider-Man was.

"Spiders are aracnids," he reminded, knowing that the constant stream of chatter helped keep thugs off their balance. "Why is that so hard for people to remember?"

Shingen didn't respond, but continued to fire. Spider-Man backflipped his way up the side of one wall this time, a feat made much harder by the fact that he could not actually adhere to the surface. This was exemplified by his claws losing their grip halfway.

"Kuso!" he swore, falling back to the concrete. "Ooof!"

Spidey rolled to a stop a few feet from the wall he'd been scaling. Raising up on one arm, he saw Shingen walking toward him. The laser on his arm was pointing at his head, which meant just one thing.

"Matte!" Spider-Man called out, raising his other hand in protest. "Wait, just one sec... Did you say earlier that there was a price on my head?"

Shingen nodded as the sound of police sirens echoed in the distance.

"Finally," Spider-Man grumbled at the noise, which seemed to be coming closer. "I thought they were actually planning to skip this one over. Anyway..."

Spidey pushed himself up off the ground, bringing a leg up into the movement so that his foot connected with the cybernetic arm when he kicked out. A steady blast of laser fire went wild, searing the opposite wall perpendicular to the earlier smoking groove left behind by Shingen.

"That's really flattering," Spider-Man revealed, punching Shingen in the chest to take the wind out of him. "And I mean that, really."

Next, Spider-Man knocked the cybernetic punk's feet out from under him using a sweep kick.

"I mean, in the superhero community," he went on, lifting the punk up by the throat with one arm, "they always say that you know you've arrived when you have a hit put out on you."

Spider-Man finished Shingen off by slamming him hard into the ground. The Augment looked dazed, and his eyes were unfocused when Spider-Man held him up again.

"Oh, and by the way," said the hero, setting the punk down on his unsteady feet so that he could grip the robotic arm with both of his hands. "I really hope you didn't get the neuro-network package with this thing. Because, otherwise... this will hurt."

There was no flesh underneath the metal of the arm when it tore away from the rest of Shingen's body. The connectors didn't even spark like they might have on a television show, which was disappointing. Shingen nevertheless screamed at the sight of his precious–not to mention, expensive–arm getting torn away.

"Now play nice," Spidey warned to the still-screaming thug, before hitting him in the face with his own arm. "Heh. Stop hitting yourself while you're at it."

Shingen collapsed on the alley ground amid the trash and dirt. The sirens from police cars seemed to be just around the corner. Satisfied with a good morning's work, Spider-Man leaped into the air, crawling his way up the wall one last time.

"I guess, for once, I can finally say I'm worth something," he mused, thinking over Shingen's words as he skipped across the rooftops. "I probably should've asked who–"

Spider-Man was broken out of his innermost thoughts by the sound of his SMARTwatch beeping underneath the wrist part of his costume.

"Ah, chikusho!" he swore again. "I'm gonna be late!"

* * *

"Hitomi!"

Hitomi turned at the sound of her name being called out. Across the quad of the school, she saw Takuya approaching at a run. One or two people moved out of the way, while others remained stationary. In the case of the latter, Takuya somehow wove around them.

"Impressive," she admitted, when Takuya reached her, bending over to grasp his knees in fatigue. "Guess this means you're on time for once."

Takuya's eyes were bulging as he raised back up sharply.

"Nani?" he asked, getting a good look at the schoolyard for the first time. "I'm on time? No, I'm..."

Takuya checked his SMARTwatch while Hitomi giggled, amused by his cluelessness.

"I'm on time?!" Takuya stared at the holo-display of his watch screen, certain he was reading it wrong somehow. "How...?"

"You said that you were going to set your clock back by fifteen minutes," Hitomi reminded, turning around away from him. "So you wouldn't be late for school from now on."

Takuya thought back, trying to remember the conversation. It had been, he realized, Hitomi's suggestion from the start. He'd done it yesterday before going to sleep, after thwarting a robbery at a FamilyMart.

"This explains the weird look I got from ka-san as I was rushing out the door," he mused, thinking back. "I had forgotten all about doing that."

Hitomi giggled. "She was probably wondering where you could be off to at such an early hour in the morning."

Takuya was about to say something smart, but a call off to the side drew both of their attentions.

"Hitomi-san."

Mamiya Saki was walking toward them, a bag slung casually over one shoulder. When she saw Takuya standing with Hitomi, the girl hesitated a moment. Hitomi, however, broke into a run and met her halfway.

"Saki-san," Hitomi greeted, giving her new friend a big smile. "Ohaiyo gozaimashita."

"Ohaiyo," Saki replied in her usual cool tone, though Takuya observed that the stand-offish girl had a smile that was slowly breaking out.

"Thank you for sending me that song over the Internet," said Hitomi. "You were right. It did sound a lot like the earlier version of 'Sunlight Mix' by Visual Dust."

"I have more," Saki was telling her, while Takuya worked his way over toward them, attempting to appear casual the whole time. "Visual Dust did a lot of tours in the underground club circuit before their lead guitarist committed suicide."

Takuya noticed that Saki was keeping one eye on him the whole time she spoke. It wasn't precisely a friendly look, either. Thinking he was being a third wheel, Takuya debated leaving the two women alone to continue their conversation without his unwanted presence.

"Would you mind if I sent a copy to Takuya?" Hitomi asked, fumbling with one hand behind her until she grabbed hold of Takuya's arm. "He'd enjoy it, I'm sure."

Hitomi pulled on Takuya's arm, trying to move him. Takuya didn't follow her lead immediately, a fact that Saki apparently thought was amusing. At last, though, he consented by stepping up, placing himself at Hitomi's side.

"I had assumed you were going to," Saki told her, and she didn't sound upset by the idea.

"Takuya loves underground circuit music," Hitomi went on, giving his arm one last squeeze before releasing him. "Don't you?"

Takuya's answer was to shrug aimlessly.

"I haven't been to any underground music shows," he spoke, directing his words at Saki. "Not since middle school."

"That's right," Hitomi said, nodding once at him before returning her attention to Saki. "You told me that a bunch of your friends used to club hop together."

The conversation had taken a very unpleasant turn for Takuya. He was trying to think of a way to change the subject without looking rude. Thankfully, somebody else provided a much-welcome distraction. Unfortunately, however, the person in question was Sakamoto Shuichi.

"Baka, yarro!"

A second-year student went tumbling to the ground. Despite being a year earlier on the school totem pole, Shuichi had shove him away. It looked as though the second-year was scared, which was understandable. Shuichi was flanked, as always, by some of the larger members of his personal entourage.

"Speaking of old friends," Takuya muttered, stepping away from the ladies.

"Watch where you are going!" Shuichi barked, bearing down on the poor, freckle-faced kid while the muscle-bound flunkies surrounded them.

The kid with the freckles stood up and bowed humbly, keeping both eyes on the concrete the entire time.

"Gomen nasai," he apologized profusely. "I wasn't... I mean, I didn't see..."

Shuichi silenced him by slapping the freckled boy across the face. The boy staggered backward a couple of steps, but didn't fall down this time. There was a brief flash of something Takuya recognized as righteous anger. It faded in the space of a heartbeat, but it was enough to make Takuya think he wouldn't have to intervene.

Then, Shuichi kicked the kid in the stomach, and the oversized flunkies moved in for the kill.

"Leave him alone."

Takuya had been on the verge of saying that, which was why it felt so strange to hear the words coming out of someone else's mouth. Turning, he discovered Miyama Saki standing to his left. A look of pure steel and fire lay in her eyes. It was enough to get Shuichi's attention, but little else. Takuya knew his old, former friend wouldn't see her as a threat.

"Yeah, shouldn't you guys be stepping on cockroaches instead," Hitomi threw in, moving up beside Takuya on his right. "Or, do you have a policy against attacking family members?"

The outburst was drawing attention. People had begun to gather round the two opposing groups, keeping a safe distance from the center, nevertheless. Takuya knew he must look ridiculous. Here he was, trying to stand up for the little guy out of costume for a change, and he was being personally flanked by two girls.

Shuichi, on the other hand, had several giants on his side. Each one appeared to forget about the freckle-faced small fry they'd been on the verge of mauling. More than one cracked their knuckles menacingly.

"This is a surprise," Shuichi noted in a measured tone, looking Takuya over.

"Long time, no see," Takuya retorted, determined not to let Shuichi's bullshit get under his skin. "For the better, I guess."

"You've filled out." It sounded like a compliment, but then Shuichi had to add, "I'd almost feel bad for kicking the shit outta you, if you were still as scrawny as you were back in middle school."

A couple of people in Shuichi's group laughed. One or two of the bystanders in the crowd around them chuckled as well. Takuya took note of this, but said nothing to provoke any of them further.

"You don't seem to mind picking on people smaller than you," Takuya said, before nodding to the human buildings behind Shuichi. "Or, smaller than those close to you."

Shuichi didn't appear to like that comment, but Takuya wasn't done.

"Maybe you just don't like fighting someone you know will kick your ass," he finished, enjoying the livid expression on Shuichi's face.

Saki looked a little skeptical by that statement, but she stood her ground with Takuya.

"I don't know this guy very well," she said, jerking a thumb his way, "but my money would still be on him."

"Yeah," Hitomi threw in, before looking nervously his way.

The freckle-faced boy had already split, meaning Takuya had less to worry about as far as someone getting caught in the crossfire. The crowd hadn't moved in closer. The only real worry was harm coming to Hitomi or Saki.

"This is pathetic," Shuichi spat, splattering a lob of spit on the ground near the front of Takuya's shoes. "You can't face me without two girls backing you up, Ikegami?"

Takuya stepped forward, getting right into Shuichi's face. Two of Shuichi's bodyguards moved up. They loomed behind Shuichi like extra-large shadows, but Takuya ignored them.

"I'll take you on here and now," Takuya announced boldly. "Unless you need one of your mountains to come along with and hold your hand."

Movement along the inside of the wall surrounding the school drew Takuya's eyes away from Shuichi's face. Shuichi had looked very nervous, but Takuya no longer had the time to think about that. Something was crawling down the wall and along the ground, heading for the main building. Takuya took two large steps backward, then leaned over into Saki.

"Did you see that?" he asked her, keeping his voice low. "That wasn't just me, right?"

Judging by the shocked expression on Hitomi's face, she had noticed also. His friend was reaching for her camera, which meant Takuya only had a moment to diffuse the situation and stop whatever was happening. Hitomi was sure to go after... whatever it was, putting herself in danger in the process.

"Sorry, guys," he said, looking past Shuichi for signs of the thing he'd seen before. "Guess it's your lucky day after all."

Shuichi acted like he wanted to stop Takuya, but the teen had already broken into a run. Saki and Hitomi raced alongside him. Together, the three headed for the front door of the school building, pausing just long enough to remove their shoes.

"Which way?" Hitomi asked, searching the available corridors beyond the entrance.

"Dunno," Takuya admitted, whose own enhanced eyes noticed nothing in particular out of the ordinary. "Should we split up?"

"Good idea," Saki agreed, already moving down the left passage. "Keep your phones on, and message if you find anything."

"Wakata," called out Hitomi, who had taken the right passage. "Be careful, both of you."

Takuya was left standing in the entrance beyond the shoe lockers, looking forlorn. Behind him, several students looked around curiously. One fellow came up behind where Takuya stood, looking around him to the left and the right.

"What's going on?" he asked, but Takuya ignored him.

"You guys could've waited for me, you know," Takuya grumbled, before anger took hold of his emotions. "Dammit, don't run off without me!"

Flipping a mental yen coin in his head, Takuya chose the left passage. Guilt pecked at his heart briefly; Hitomi had gone to the right, and she had known him longer. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about leaving Saki alone, despite knowing she was capable. Takuya listened to his gut and ran down the corridor, searching the school.

There was no obvious sign of danger, so he didn't change into Spider-Man. This early on, the hallways and classrooms were mostly deserted. The students were still milling about outside in the schoolyard. Takuya knew it wouldn't be long before the first bell chimed, though. He had to find whatever it was that had sneaked over the wall.

The memory returned, of seeing something crawl on all fours with its belly close to the ground. Whatever it was, the thing had been fast. Even Takuya's eyes hadn't caught sight of it for more than a second or so. He recalled something about the skin looking unnatural, and a strange color to boot.

"Teme," he swore, weaving through one hallway, then around a corner and down another. "You had to pick today to come breaking into school, huh?"

Takuya went around the next corner at full speed. He was so focused on his search, and trying to find the thing, that he wasn't paying attention to right in front of him. Principal Taijyoku was suddenly right in front of him, unmoving and staring into Takuya's eyes. Takuya windmilled his arms, forcing his body to stop. The effort made him fall backward onto his ass, but at least he hadn't plowed directly into the man.

"Young man," Taijyoku-koucho spoke, his voice oddly calm despite the steely, intense gaze coming from him, "is there some particular place that you need to be in such a hurry?"

Takuya looked up at the principal, knowing he was surely in trouble. His eyes then veered to the left behind Taijyoku-koucho where Saki stood, looking down at him on the floor.

"Ikegami-san," she lectured, her voice not all that different from the principal's. "I asked for your help, but there's no reason to create additional stress to the school."

The principal turned from Takuya over to Saki. Saki nodded at the man's unspoken question.

"Ikegami-san was with me when I noticed the apparation coming over the wall," she explained, not moving. "Sakuma Hitomi-san was there as well."

Taijyoku-koucho looked from her back to Takuya.

"I see," he said, sounding as if he'd just decided on something. "Then, would you mind giving a more in-depth description of what you both witnessed?"

Takuya stood up and dusted himself off. The floor was cold, and he had gooseflesh on his arms from sitting on it for so long.

"It crawled along the ground on all fours," he explained, hoping the principal believed him. "Keeping its belly close to the ground. And it was a strange color."

Taijyoku-koucho listened, but was unresponsive the entire time Takuya spoke.

"Do you think maybe the two of you were simply seeing things?" he asked, once Takuya went quiet. "This sounds a little far-fetched, you must admit."

Takuya felt his temper rise, but Saki was ahead of him.

"I could call my father," she offered, holding her phone up. "He can give you his professional opinion."

The principal's face sank downward into a scowl. Takuya could tell the man didn't like the idea of bringing a parent in on this. Saki's father was rumored to work with the metropolitan police. He could picture cops showing up to investigate the claim made by a student of a monster running lose on campus.

"The faculty will be alerted," Taijyoku-koucho said, bringing the discussion to an end. "And report to me of anything suspicious. Let's not bring the police in on this unless there's need to, Mamiya-san."

The first bell chimed at that moment, signaling the start of another school day. The principal chose that moment to walk off, moving along down the hallway before they could say anything more.

"You two should get to class," he instructed, not looking back at them. "And please, both of you–"

Taijyoku-koucho stopped at the point where the hallways intersected. Turning, he glared back their way, eyes piercing and serious.

"–put on the proper shoes."

Takuya looked down at their feet, which were covered by their socks. He had left his with Hitomi and Saki's shoes, alongside his briefcase as well.

"At least we're not wearing street shoes indoors," he said to Saki as she strode past him.

"Sou," she agreed, not stopping. "I'm beginning to pick up your bad habits."

Taijyoku-koucho was still standing at the intersection when they walked past. Takuya felt the man's hand come down on his shoulder, holding him in place. He stopped and waited, wondering what the older gentleman could want with him.

"Matte," said the principal. "Mamiya-san called you 'Ikegami', yes?"

Takuya looked the man right in the face and nodded.

"Hai."

Takuya didn't much like the look in the principal's eye. His whole back tensed, like he was waiting to move away from an incoming blow.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Ikegami Takuya, would it?" asked the principal.

Takuya swallowed, then nodded. He had a significantly worse feeling now, along with a suspicion about what was going on. If the principal knew him, there could only be one reason for it.

"I've read your file," Taijyoku-koucho said, before releasing his grip on Takuya. "Stay out of trouble."

As he and Saki walked away, Takuya could feel her eyes on him. She didn't ask what the principal had meant, but the question hung in the air between them. Takuya waited expectantly, but nothing came of it. Saki didn't speak again until they were back at the entrance area, and it was to Hitomi, who was standing around waiting.

"Saki-san," Hitomi said, relieved.

"I didn't find anything," Saki told her, ignoring the formality of saying hello. "But the principal knows about it. We'll see what happens."

"Mou," Hitomi groaned, reaching for her phone out of her bag. "I had totally forgotten to charge my phone last night. That's why you didn't hear from me."

"It happens," said Saki, unfazed. "Let's get our shoes and go to class."

Takuya watched while the girls walked off. He was going to mumble something about their leaving him behind again. The sight of Shuichi lurking over by one of the rows of shoe lockers made him hold his tongue. Shuichi had a knowing smirk on his face, one that Takuya had seen before.

It wasn't over between them; not by a long shot. Takuya knew he would be very lucky to escape school that afternoon without having a confrontation with his former friend.

"Bring it on," he decided, gripping one hand into a fist. "I'm ready."

* * *

"It doesn't make sense, though."

Hitomi was speaking in a low voice so as not to draw the attention of their Maths teacher. Up at the front of the room, Akazuki-sensei droned on in a subdued voice about quadratic equations. They weren't the only students not giving the class their full attention, but it paid to be extra cautious.

Akazuki-sensei had a habit of tossing chalk at daydreaming students with deadly accuracy.

"We all saw it crawl over the wall," Hitomi went on, whispering near Takuya's shoulder. "Where could it have disappeared to?"

Hitomi's breath tickled against Takuya's ear. He involuntarily jerked his head away, but Hitomi placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him in his seat. Apparently, she misunderstood and thought he was moving away from her.

"Oi, Takuya," she hissed.

"I hear you," Takuya replied, low and irritably. "I just don't want to get caught, is the thing. And I don't understand what happened, either. Why would you assume I do?"

Hitomi scowled, but then her eyes moved past him to the board. Akazuki-sensei didn't seem to have noticed them yet. Sighing in relief, Hitomi tried to resume the conversation. Takuya, however, beat her to it.

"Besides," he added, the irritation in his voice deepening, "you and Saki-san took off without me. Both times, in fact."

"Eh?"

Hitomi asked surprised by this. Takuya found himself getting more annoyed. It was enough to made him grip one side of his seat. The plastic warped in his grip, thanks to his superhuman strength. Realizing that he was about to break the desk in half, Takuya let go and quickly darted his eyes around the room. Thankfully, nobody appeared to have noticed him.

"You haven't known Saki-san for very long," he whispered back to her. "Yet, the two of you acted like best friends today."

Hitomi let go of Takuya's shoulder. He could feel her breath coming again, this time down along the back of his neck. Something stirred inside of Takuya; in particular, down inside his uniform pants, and he blushed.

"Ne, Takuya," she whispered suspiciously. "Are you, per chance, jealous of Saki-san?"

Takuya's face continued to burn red, even as he scowled at Hitomi's question.

"Why would you ask me that?" he demanded, speaking a little louder than he meant to as he whirled around in his desk. "And what's with calling her 'Saki-san' instead of Mamiya-san, eh?"

"Ikegami-san."

Takuya heard Akazuki-sensei's voice a half-second before his reflexive precognition kicked in. He could practically see the piece of chalk flying through the air, despite not facing that way. Three scenarios flipped through his head, one after the other: he could duck, catch the piece of chalk, or let it strike him in the nose.

The third option was thrown out before Takuya had time to think about it further. The first meant allowing Hitomi to get hit by it instead, and as angry as he was at the moment, that was no more an option than the first. Therefore, Takuya reached up, snatching the chalk out of the air in mid-turn back toward the teacher.

The piece of chalk was stuck between two of his fingers. Takuya held it up high enough for those sitting close by to see. Hitomi raised up, staring at it.

"Takuya," she uttered. "Sugoi desu yo."

The classroom stared at Takuya, and it only just occurred to him then and there that he might have blown his secret identity. Students began whispering amongst themselves. Akazuki-sensei glared at him, though she herself didn't look nearly as furious with him as one would expect her to be.

"Impressive," she agreed, studying him momentarily. "Perhaps, if you have such good reflexes, you ought to consider trying out for a school sport. It would give you something to work off that excess energy of yours, and help you pay attention in class."

Takuya bit his lower lip, sinking down into his seat from embarrassment. Hitomi was still staring at the bit of chalk between his fingers.

"You know," she began, thinking about what just happened, "I don't quite get why she keeps these. Nobody uses chalkboards in schools anymore."

Akazuki-sensei, as if illustrating Hitomi's point, was bringing up a new diagram on the display monitor built into the wall at the front of the class. The computer simulation began running through how each equation on the screen should be worked out. The class fell silent at her staring and went back to work, jotting down notes in their computer tablets.

"She only has the one pointer," Takuya replied, risking being hit again by referring to the little plastic pointer device used to move the arrow around on the screen. "Chalk is cheaper to replace than one of those things."

Hitomi didn't say anything more; likely due to not wanting to be made a target herself for any flying projectiles. The two went back to taking notes along with the rest of their classmates. It wasn't long before the period bell chimed, meaning class was over.

"Stand!" the class representative–a girl by the name of Saotome–called out. "Bow!"

The class as one jumped out of their desks and bowed while Akazuki-sensei walked out of the room to go teach her next subject.

"Sit!" ordered the class representative, to which everyone sat back down in their seats.

Students took the opportunity to chat amongst themselves while they waited for their next teacher to enter the classroom. Someone stood guard by the door, keeping watch, as others got up to move over by their friends. Hitomi and Takuya remained where their where, but Takuya felt a familiar hand on his shoulder from behind.

"Ne, ne." Hitomi gave his shoulder a couple of insistent tugs. "What did you mean from before, about my called Mamiya 'Saki-san'."

Grumbling, Takuya turned around in his desk so he could face Hitomi directly.

"What did it sound like I meant?" Takuya replied, giving her a reproachful glare.

"That's why I asked," she said pointedly. "I call you by your first name, and we've known each other for all of a month. How is calling her 'Saki-san' different?"

Takuya wasn't sure he wanted to continue the conversation. As it were, he was having a much more difficult time meeting Hitomi's eyes than he expected to.

"Can we talk about something else?" Takuya grumbled, and then added while glaring, "and it be something that doesn't involve monsters in the school?"

Hitomi let go of Takuya, placing her hand down on top of the desk alongside her other one.

"Fine," she said neutrally. "Did you hear the rumor that Tatewaki-sensei is back?"

Takuya felt a chill roll down his spine at the mention of the most dreaded teacher in all of Shin Kyoboku Gakuen. As fearsome as Akazuki-sensei might be, no student dared speak aloud during Tatewaki-sensei's lectures.

It was simply not done.

"Terrific," Takuya scowled, placing an elbow against the surface of his own desk so he could lean a cheek into his hand. "Just in time to give me a low grade on the paper I was late turning in."

"I doubt you'll get that back today." Hitomi was looking out the window at something, keeping her gaze off Takuya. "He's been out for so long. There's bound to be a lot of papers to grade."

Takuya thought about Hitomi's words, and reasoned she was most likely correct. He didn't like the idea of failing Tatewaki-sensei's subject, but since becoming Spider-Man, his studies had fallen by the wayside a little bit. Then again, there had always been an excuse not to do them, much to his mother's chagrin.

"Shuichi-kun is still mad at me, I'm sure," he mumbled, looking out the same window as Hitomi. "I wonder if he'll try anything after the last bell."

Feeling Hitomi's eyes on him, Takuya turned around again to find her staring.

"Shuichi-kun?" she asked, giving him a suspicious glare.

There came a clamor of alarm; a sharp buzzing that blared out from the hallways. The sound faded out for a second, only to return in full force immediately after. The buzzing continued, going in and out at a steady pace, while the student body in the classroom looked around at each other in shock.

Takuya thanked whatever gods were watching out for him at the distraction. He hadn't been able to think of a good enough excuse for himself. Furthermore, he really hadn't wanted to explain himself to Hitomi; not about that.

"Attention, students," a voice said over the PA system above the alarm. "There is a school emergency at this time. Please, follow your teachers out of the building to the schoolyard. Repeat: this is not a drill."

Some of their classmates were already getting to their feet. A few took the time to gather up their supplies and books. Others left them there and went straight out into the hallway where others had already gathered.

"I guess we should go," Takuya decided, standing with his briefcase slung over one shoulder, "since we don't have a teacher to follow."

Hitomi didn't answer, but Takuya saw how she was gathering up her bag. Instead of hurrying off after the other students, though, Hitomi began fishing around for something. Takuya saw what it was when Hitomi raised up: a digital camera.

"Come on," she ordered, grabbing Takuya by the arm as she raced past. "We don't want to miss this."

Takuya could have stopped her, but that would have meant revealing his spider-like strength in front of her. He'd already had a close call in front of the entire classroom by catching Akazuki-sensei's flying piece of chalk. Running along behind her, Takuya allowed himself to be lead out into the hallway. Students were marching along in succession, though no one followed a single line. They were mostly in groups, and it didn't appear as if anyone were following one particular teacher.

"This way," said Hitomi, leading him through the crowd.

Hitomi nudged students out of the way, moving at a much faster pace than them. Takuya inadvertently body-checked a few on his own. Hitomi still had a grip on his forearm, and Takuya was having to run so as to not give himself away. Unfortunately, the area that Hitomi gripped was where the fluid for his webbing was stored. Takuya could feel the pressure being built up. If he didn't pull his arm away soon, an innocent passerby would get a face full of webbing by mistake.

"Matte kure," Takuya insisted, yanking his arm out of her grasp. "Just where do you think you're leading us?"

Hitomi didn't answer; turning back, she grabbed hold of Takuya by his tie instead. Takuya sighed and kept right on running after her.

"Up here," she said, coming to a vacant set of stairs.

It looked as though all the students on their end of the school had come down from the upper floors. There was no one approaching from the opposite direction as Hitomi and Takuya ran up the steps.

"Won't someone find us?" Takuya asked her, though he had already figured out the answer.

"Everyone is leaving the building," Hitomi pointed out as they rounded a corner at the landing together. "Including the teachers, and while they wait for the police to arrive, we get a good luck at the monster."

Takuya slid to a stop, grabbing hold of his tie so that it slipped out of Hitomi's grip.

"Hold on just a minute," he demanded, taking hold of her arm so that she couldn't run off on her own. "Are we still on about that?"

It was Hitomi's turn to snatch her arm away out of Takuya's grip.

"Of course," she said, like it was obvious. "I'm going to get a photo for my dad's blog with the camera he bought me."

Takuya noticed then that the camera was of a very high quality.

"How can you afford something so expensive?" he asked her, wrinkling his brow is confusion. "And why bring something like that to school? Don't you worry it'll get damaged?"

Hitomi stared; the high-end digital camera with miniature telephoto lens attachment still clutched tightly in both of her hands.

"You're asking me this now?" she wondered.

"Fine," Takuya grumbled, looking past her down the hall. The drip-drip sound of something liquid splattering against the floor could be heard. It reminded him of a bathroom faucet leaking.

"Why up here?" Takuya asked, as Hitomi herself looked around as well. "And where is that noise coming from?"

"We start at the top, then work our way down," Hitomi explained, albeit in an absent-minded voice. "I dunno. Are we near a bathroom?"

The dripping sound continued, louder than before. Takuya thought the noise was getting closer to them. Something drizzled against his cheek.

That was the point where Takuya stared straight up at the ceiling.

"What?" Hitomi asked, following his gaze. "Did you–?"

Hitomi's voice trailed up. On the ceiling, directly above them, was the creature they had sought out. It's red eyes watched their every movement. Golden scales covered a body rife with muscles, visible even from a good fifteen feet high. The creature's limbs were splayed out perpendicular to it like a lizard's. It even had a hood, which at present was lying flat against its neck.

Claws–made for the ripping and tearing of flesh–dug into the ceiling, giving it purchase. A long, forked tongue stuck out. From it, saliva dripped down onto the floor. This accounted, Takuya realized, for the dripping noise which had given it away. A worn kimono–stained and soiled, as if it had come out of a trash bin–lay draped over its body.

"Oh, come on," Takuya heard himself say in disbelieve. "Now, that is just cheating."

"Run!"

Hitomi was trying to take her own advise and aim the camera up at the monster at the same time. Unfortunately, neither her footware nor her sense of balance were best suited for such a task. She managed to trip over her own two feet and fall backward into Takuya, who hadn't been about to leave her behind.

"I thought I told you–" Hitomi scolded as Takuya scooped her up in his arms.

"And listen to you chew me out later?" he pointed out, turning around. "No, thank you. Now we run away, together!"

Takuya raced back to the stairwell and down the first flight of steps. The creature was following them the whole time, clawing away at the ceiling as it moved. Out the corner of his eye, Takuya could see it moving down along the walls toward them. Foregoing pretense, he leaped off the midway landing and jumped the rest of the way down to the next floor.

"Nande?" Hitomi blurted out, looking back over his shoulder as Takuya sprinted forward. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Talk later!" Takuya yelled, while the beast continued its pursuit. "Run now!"

Takuya picked a direction and ran. He had no idea which way he was running. Between making sure Hitomi was safely tucked in his arms and the monster snapping at his heels–literally, direction had become a secondary concern.

"This way," Hitomi directed, pointing him down a side passage. "There's another stairway leading down... Wait, have you been running around in circles this whole time?"

Takuya huffed and puffed, not exactly winded just yet, but getting there. The adrenaline rush was helping to keep him one step ahead of their attacker.

"I didn't have time to think up a plan," he groused between gasps, spotting the staircase that Hitomi had told him about. "Or consult a floor plan. Hold on!"

Takuya jumped. The claws belonging to the creature missed shredding his feet by inches. Takuya landed on the railing and coasted down, using his balance and enhanced agility to keep the both of them steady. His feet never touched the floor; the second leap he made carried both of them over to the next railing and further down.

"Akazuki-sensei was right," Hitomi said, once they'd reached the ground floor. "You really should try out for a sport."

"Time and a place," he reminded. "We still have a hungry monster to lose."

Takuya chanced a glimpse behind at the pursuing beast. The monster knocked aside recycling bins, toppled over vending machines, and even crashed through a display made by the Art department for an upcoming school event. Its tail cracked like a whip, scattering a desk that someone had left lying out in the hallway. Takuya ducked his head down to keep from getting clipped by it while Hitomi tried to aim her camera.

"Hold me steady," Hitomi complained, clicking away at the button. "I'm trying to get us a clear picture."

"I'm trying to keep us alive," Takuya snapped as the creature snapped its own jaws at the both of them hungrily.

"If you hate it so much," Hitomi said reproachfully, "just put me down. I'm not even hurt, so why would you carry me?"

Takuya glared at her, which meant he didn't see the next set of vending machines, and almost ran right into them.

"Do you want to try escaping from the monster?" he demanded, losing patience. "Because, I will set you down, if that is what you want."

The creature let out a horrible roar that reminded Takuya of metal being scraped across rusted metal. Hitomi shuddered, and actually tried to fold into a fetal position while still in his arms.

"No," she said, looking unnerved by the noise. "I'm good."

Takuya hated being short-tempered with her. In truth, he was swearing the whole time he'd been trying to escape from the monster. He needed a quick place to change into Spider-Man, which was impossible with Hitomi around. Unfortunately, a secret identity wasn't worth a friend's life. Takuya was finally starting to suspect that his secret was out, as far as she was concerned.

Up ahead, there was a storage closet that somebody had left open. Getting an idea, Takuya poured on the steam, running as fast as he could.

"I'm sorry about this," he told Hitomi, meaning it. "Forgive me, please."

With that statement, Takuya tossed Hitomi out of his arms and into the closet, barely slowing down enough to kick the door shut with his foot. The beast behind him snapped and swiped a claw, but kept right on chasing him.

"Just what I was hoping for," he said happily, bringing up the holographic display on his SMARTwatch. "Now, time for a quick change!"

With the press of a holographic button, Takuya's clothes melted into the form of his costume. Spider-Man leaped into the air, grasping for purchase against the ceiling with his own retractable inch-long claws. The creature at last caught up, scaling along the side of the wall perpendicular to him.

"You know," Spidey scolded, giving the creature a look that went unnoticed because of the mask he wore, "you really oughta leave wall-crawling to the experts."

Spider-Man flipped himself off the ceiling and turned into a somersault. Anchoring himself to the ceiling with his webbing, he swung over to the side, intent on landing a blow with both feet. The creature was fast, however, and managed to move out of the way in time. Spider-Man felt his feet connect with solid stone.

"That's an imitatable act," he went on, dodging the blow from the humanoid dragon monster by backflipping off the wall. "Pretty soon, all the kids will see you doing it and think it's okay."

Spidey ducked down low on the ground, managing to keep out of the path of a flying tail swipe that had been aiming for his head.

"Then all the kids start trying it," he said, webbing the monster's face up, "and guess who will get blamed for it."

The creature tore at the webbing covering his face. Spider-Man opted to use the opportunity to have the monster chase him again. The hallways were far too narrow for a proper battle. He would need to take things outside, but that meant leading it to the back alley behind the school where there would be no students.

"Come on," he called out, backing away down another hallway. "You don't look too old to play tag. Which means, you're it!"

Spider-Man reached for a shuriken on his belt. The human-dragon hybrid caught the device in its tongue after Spidey flicked it through the air. The spider-shaped shuriken let out an almighty shock that stunned the monster for a brief moment. However, all the creature had to do was use its tongue to drop the shuriken; at which point, the attack stopped.

"Of all the times for me to keep my spares in my locker," Spider-Man said to himself, using a webline to swing down the hall faster than on two feet. "And I can risk using an explosive inside the school."

Spider-Man found himself webslinging down a corridor that ran parallel with the outside. The hallway ended up ahead, save for a closed brown door that Spidey would have bet anything to be locked. He was contemplating breaking the door down when the human-dragon creature leaped forward. The gap between them closed and the creature made a swipe at his webline.

"Oh, good!" Spider-Man called out, before he tumbled to the waxed floor and slid to a stop. "A few more bruises to add to my collection. It'll be fun laying on my stomach tonight."

The creature gave a flick of its tail next, which sent Spider-Man crashing outside through a window. Spidey found himself coming out of a daze in an enclosed area behind the main school building. The area was covered by a fence and extended beyond the loading alleyway to the side. It was there, he recalled, that Shuichi and his gang had tried shaking a student down for cash.

"Well, it's outside of the building," he said to himself, spotting the creature crawl out through the same window to join him. "That part of the plan worked. Now I just need to come up with the rest of it, and hope that follows through as well."

Spider-Man was forced to postpone the planning part. The creature was upon him in mere moments, slashing its deadly claws through the air. One hit would have cut him to ribbons. It was only due to his reflexive precognition that his body remained one step ahead of the monster. The two tussled for a bit in the open area, getting in a few good blows to each other.

"That didn't work," Spider-Man noted after his two exploding shurikens didn't so much as put a dent in the monster's scales. "I'm running out of options."

Then, the unthinkable happened. The sound of sirens filled the air in the distance for the second time that morning. Spider-Man watched, confused, as the beast raised up. The expression on its face was unreadable, yet for but an instant, he thought the creature seemed... frightened.

"Hey, where'd you think you're going?" he demanded, as the beast charged for the wall.

No amount of webbing held it for very long. The closer the sirens came to the school area, the more desperate the creature seemed to escape. At last, Spider-Man could hold it no longer. The human-dragon hybrid crawled over the wall and down the other side.

"Sorry, the game's not over yet," he yelled, leaping up on top of the fence. "We still haven't gotten to the lighting–"

Unsurprisingly, the area beyond the fence was deserted.

"–round," Spidey finished, feeling suddenly very deflated. "How do you like that?"

* * *

Wednesday; May 9

8:53 p.m.

It was late, and the freckle-faced Otogi had homework to do. His mother would be furious if he were late getting home. At it stood, he would have to work extra-hard to catch up.

He had to do this, though.

"Lookin' for somethin', kid?"

The figure dressed in casual clothing. The attire was simple, yet neat and well-managed. The most outrageous piece was the long overcoat covering most of the man's body. Though it was dark, Otogi guessed that the fellow was in his twenties.

"They told me..." Otogi paused, feeling his voice crack. "...said you could help me."

The figure took a deep drag off a cigarette held between two fingers, then flicked the half-smoked stick against a nearby wall. The downtown area of Taido district in the Tokyo prefecture of Shin-Mugenjo was noisy, yet this particular area looked deserted. Somehow, Otogi got the impression that he was being watched, and not by the man standing in front of him.

"I can do a lot of things for people," the man said, scratching his chin. "Care to explain exactly what it is you came here lookin' for?"

Otogi swallowed, not sure he could form the words. He was not a violent person by nature, but this had to end. He was sick of it, and so were his friends.

"A weapon," he answered, but the word barely formed on his lips.

"Nani?" the man asked, growing impatient. "Speak up!"

"A weapon," Otogi said more clearly, standing up straight and tall.

The man chuckled as he reached for a fresh cigarette. When the flame from the lighter that somehow appeared in his hand blazed, Otogi gasped. The man was beautiful; there was no other way to put it. He had the sort of looks men on the covers of magazines would kill to possess. Dark hair hung lazily around his shoulders in a soft curtain. The barest hint of a stubble made his facial features from looking too 'soft'.

This wasn't why Otogi gasped out loud, however. The eyes were a solid yellow color. It could have been contacts, but Otogi wasn't certain.

"Hey, kid," the man pressed, snapping Otogi out of his staring. "You still interested?"

Otogi swallowed again and nodded.

"Good." Taking a deep drag off the fresh cigarette, the man passed the stick onto Otogi. "Come with me, then. I can set you up."


End file.
